17,000 Residents Take Part in Nuclear Disaster Exercise in Japan

August 27, 2018

Fukui- About 17,000 residents in Fukui, Kyoto and Shiga prefectures took part in the Japanese government's two-day comprehensive nuclear disaster exercise, the Cabinet Office said Sunday.

The exercise that ended Sunday was based on the scenario of serious accidents occurring simultaneously at Kansai Electric Power Co.'s Oi and Takahama nuclear plants, both in Fukui, following an earthquake.

Sunday's drill involved the Maritime Self-Defense Force's minesweeper tender Bungo, which was deployed some 5 kilometers off Tsuruga port in Fukui.

A prefectural disaster medical assistance team was dispatched to the vessel, where first aid was provided to people who played the roles of the injured taken by helicopter.

In the town of Takahama, 30 residents moved out of the prefecture by a Ground SDF CH-47J helicopter and the MSDF's multipurpose support ship Hiuchi, on the assumption that a potential evacuation route was cut off by a landslide.

A bus carrying 59 Oi residents arrived at a school in Kawanishi, Hyogo Prefecture, that was used as an evacuation center.

This was the government's first disaster exercise aimed at preparing for simultaneous accidents happening at multiple nuclear plants since the March 2011 triple meltdown at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.

The Oi and Takahama nuclear plants are located as little as some 13.5 kilometers from each other. Jiji Press