Ozu, Jiji Press

Drones were flown to carry supplies in a drill to prepare for a nuclear disaster at Shikoku Electric Power Co.’s Ikata nuclear power plant in Ehime Prefecture on Wednesday.

The exercise by the Ehime prefectural government involved some 23,000 participants from 97 organizations, including all municipalities in the western Japan prefecture and the government of Oita Prefecture, just across the sea from Ehime.

The scenario was that the plant's No. 3 reactor lost all of its power due to an earthquake and that radioactive substances were released into the air.

Residents living in the western side of Cape Sada in Ehime may be isolated and struggle to evacuate if a severe nuclear accident occurs as the Ikata plant is located at the base of the cape.

During the drill, 45 residents boarded private or Japan Coast Guard vessels from Misaki Port in Ikata, the host municipality of the plant, to head for Oita.

Drones were used in Ozu and Seiyo, both within 30 kilometers of the Ikata plant.

The drones, operated by remote control from the prefectural office in Matsuyama via a mobile communications network, carried some 400 grams of candies treated as if they were medicines during the drill.