December 26, 2012

A countermeasure against a U.S. nuclear-powered vessel’s accident in a Japanese port was deleted from the government’s basic plan for disaster prevention when the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) was established in September.

In September, the government’s Central Disaster Prevention Council revised the basic plan in accordance with the closure of the Nuclear Safety Commission (NSC) and the foundation of the succeeding NRA.

In the revision, a list of “NSC activities” in the event of an accident involving a U.S. nuclear-powered ship was deleted, such as sending experts to the spot to investigate and assist local governments to take emergency response measures.

Local governments hosting ports where U.S. nuclear-powered vessels often make port calls were not informed of this change.

An official of one of such local governments said, “Experts must be sent to us in the event of a nuclear disaster since we don’t have any staff who are familiar with how to handle such a disaster.”

In answer to Akahata’s inquiry, the Cabinet Office explained that the NSC’s task to dispatch experts for technical assistance will be taken over by the NRA.

Meanwhile, the Nuclear Regulatory Agency in charge of NRA administrative affairs said that the Cabinet Office is responsible for countermeasures to respond to a nuclear-powered ship’s accident.

Since their first port call to Japan in 1964, U.S. nuclear-powered submarines and aircraft carriers have continued to visit Japanese ports, and some of them experienced radiation leaks.

During the period between 2006 and 2008, the U.S. Navy’s nuclear-powered submarine Houston leaked coolant water in Sasebo (Nagasaki Pref.), Yokosuka (Kanagawa Pref.), and White Beach (Okinawa Pref.).

Yokosuka became the only homeport for a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier outside of the U.S. in September 2008 when the USS George Washington was deployed there.

The U.S. Yokosuka base is located on Miura Peninsula, which has several active faults. Some point out that if a massive earthquake hits this area, the George Washington may not be able to secure cooling water for its reactors due to backwash, which could lead to loss of reactor control.