Mihama, Fukui:The Japanese government held on Saturday a comprehensive nuclear disaster drill assuming a serious accident at the Mihama power station in Fukui Prefecture.

The two-day drill, which started Friday, was 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. nuclear plant becoming impossible.

Later in the day, residents within a 5-kilometer radius of the Mihama nuclear plant will practice evacuating to a shelter.

It is the first time in three years for locals to actually travel to a shelter in a drill related to the power station, after the drills in the last two years were canceled or scaled down due to the spread of the novel coronavirus.

JIJI Press