Japan on Saturday mobilized some 12,000 residents and military forces as Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori led the nation's biggest ever nuclear accident drill.
The drill, carried out at a nuclear plant in Kashima, some 650 kilometers (403 miles) west of Tokyo, simulated an emergency closure of the reactor, followed by a massive radiation leak due to a halted cooling water supply.
In Kashima, Self-Defense Force’s trucks evacuated about 100 people to local shelters, while another 12,000 participants stayed inside their home, a local government official said.
Doctors and nurses dressed in anti-radiation suits simulated emergency treatment of plant workers exposed to large doses of radiation.
Mori declared an emergency in Tokyo and coordinated the government's response at the head of a special taskforce.
"Although there should not be an accident like this in reality, it is very meaningful to be fully prepared for it," the premier told reporters.
Japan is haunted by the fear of a major nuclear accident.
Saturday's drill followed the first anniversary of an accident at the Tokaimura nuclear plant in which two workers were killed and hundreds of people exposed to radiation. It was the world's worst nuclear accident since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in the Ukraine -- TOKYO (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
