Japan Conducts 1st Midwinter Nuclear Disaster Drill
Kyowa, Hokkaido, Feb. 4 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese government on Saturday held a comprehensive nuclear evacuation drill in midwinter for the first time, assuming an accident at Hokkaido Electric Power Co.'s <9509> Tomari nuclear power station in the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido.
As blizzards and accumulated snow could make it difficult for residents to evacuate, participants in the drill checked procedures needed to be taken in case of emergency at the plant, including the removal of snow from evacuation routes.
Taking part in the drill were 460 people, including 60 nearby residents and officials from such central government agencies as the Cabinet Office and the Nuclear Regulation Authority and local authorities such as the Hokkaido prefectural government.
The drill assumed that the cooling function for the No. 3 reactor at the nuclear plant in the village of Tomari has been completely lost amid a blizzard with the maximum instantaneous wind speed of 35 meters per second and 24-hour snowfall of 30 centimeters mainly in the Shiribeshi region of western Hokkaido where the village is located.
On Saturday morning, participants checked procedures that will be taken in case of a blizzard blocking their way to an off-site emergency response center in the town of Kyowa, which neighbors Tomari. They practiced switching to a plan of using the Hokkaido government's office in the city of Sapporo, the capital of the prefecture, as a provisional off-site center for initial response.
(2017/02/04-18:06)
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