Law dysfunctional in face of unimaginable disaster

The government panel's interim report said plans laid out by the Nuclear Disaster Special Measures Law did not function properly because the scale of the disaster was unimaginable.

According to the law, in the event of a nuclear disaster an off-site headquarters is to be established near the nuclear power plant where the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency can gather information with representatives of local governments.

However, because local governments were overwhelmed dealing with the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, of the six towns surrounding the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant only Okumamachi sent a representative to the headquarters.

On March 15, following explosions at the plant's Nos. 1 and 3 reactors, and with the No. 2 reactor in a hazardous condition, radiation measurements inside the headquarters reached 200 microsieverts per hour, forcing the office to relocate to Fukushima city.

Early that morning, the nuclear safety agency had faxed the headquarters, advising them to administer stabilized iodine to prevent the accumulation of radioactive iodine in workers' bodies. But in the confusion surrounding the relocation to Fukushima, nobody noticed the fax until the evening.

The headquarters, which was only five kilometers from the nuclear plant, was not equipped with an air purifier to protect against radiation. This had been pointed out in 2009 by the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry, but the nuclear agency said such equipment was not necessary. "Radioactive substances would only be in the air for a short time. Just turning off the ventilation system is enough," they said.

The confusion was largely because a multihazard disaster involving a nuclear crisis and natural calamities was not foreseen. However, the 2007 Niigata Chuetsu Offshore Earthquake had provided a forewarning.

The Niigata quake damaged Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear power station, and the nuclear safety agency began conducting an investigation.

However, local governments opposed this probe, saying that if a claim was made that the earthquake caused the nuclear accident, the public would be overly apprehensive. The agency then concluded, "There is virtually no possibility that a natural disaster could cause a nuclear disaster," and the probe was terminated.

Niigata Prefecture in 2010 devised a training plan that anticipated such complex disasters, which was revised and approved by the safety agency. Regarding such training, the report said, "Disaster drills that take into account the unique aspects of nuclear accidents should be conducted regularly, with full participation of local residents."