Nuclear Accident Drill Held in Central Japan

Mihama, Fukui Pref., Nov. 5 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese government held on Saturday a comprehensive nuclear disaster drill assuming a serious accident at the Mihama power station in Fukui Prefecture.

The three-day drill, which started Friday, is participated by a total of about 4,180 people, including officials from the Cabinet Office, the Nuclear Regulation Authority and local governments concerned.

The drill was based on a scenario that an earthquake measuring lower 6, the third-highest level on Japan’s seismic intensity scale, occurred in the Reinan region in the central Japan prefecture Friday afternoon.

On Saturday morning, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida declared a mock nuclear emergency with operations to pour water into a reactor at the Kansai Electric Power Co. <9503> nuclear plant in the town of Mihama becoming impossible.

In the afternoon, residents within a 5-kilometer radius of the Mihama nuclear plant practiced evacuating to a shelter. Assuming a traffic disruption on a prefectural road in the town, a 12-meter-long amphibious vehicle of the Ground Self-Defense Force was utilized.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]