Evacuation drill (Onagawa)

 January 29, 2014

Nuclear evacuation drill held around Onagawa plant

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20140129_22.html 

Miyagi Prefecture and municipalities around the Onagawa nuclear power plant have held a drill to assess the procedures for responding to a major nuclear accident. It was the first such drill held since the Fukushima disaster in 2011.

About 800 people from the prefectural government, 7 municipalities, hospitals and police and fire stations took part in the drill on Wednesday. The exercise assumed that radioactive substances were released from the plant after a major earthquake knocked out all power at the facility.

At the prefectural office, officials received faxes about the status of the Onagawa plant from its operator, Tohoku Electric Power Company, and relayed the information to relevant municipalities.
The prefecture, the municipalities, and the Nuclear Regulation Authority Secretariat conducted a video conference to share information about areas where residents needed to be evacuated or ordered to stay indoors.

In the town of Misato, a drill was conducted to have all residents in areas within 30 kilometers of the plant take shelter indoors. A woman who took part prepared enough water for a long stay inside her home, and sealed off her house with adhesive tape to prevent radioactivity from entering.

After the accident at Fukushima, disaster preparedness zones for nuclear accidents were expanded from 10 to 30 kilometers around power plants. The new guidelines increased the number of people around the Onagawa plant who would need to evacuate from 18,000 to 210,000. But relevant municipalities have yet to draw up evacuation plans.