Japan Press Weekly

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2016 February 24 - March 1 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

Residents near Takahama NPP need 7.5 hours to escape from nuclear accident

In the event of a nuclear accident at the Takahama nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture, it will take up to seven and a half hours to complete the residents’ evacuation. This was shown in a calculation made by the prefecture. Nevertheless, the NPP operator, Kansai Electric Power Company, on February 26 put the No.4 reactor at the plant back online following the reactivation of the No.3 reactor last month.

The Fukui Prefectural government in 2014 calculated how many hours will be needed to evacuate residents to areas beyond a 30km-radius of the Takahama NPP by using the nearest expressway.

According to the calculation, it will take three hours to empty an area within a 5km-radius of the plant in spring and autumn, but the time will exceed seven and a half hours in the summer bathing season as Fukui’s popular bathing beaches are located near Takahama.

The calculation also indicates the possibility that residents of Takahama Town and its neighboring city of Maizuru will converge on the nearest highway ramp and cause a heavy traffic jam.

The number of vehicles passing through this entry gate is normally 1,700 a day and doubles in the high-season. An expressway company said that the degree of concentration of cars during an emergency evacuation from a nuclear accident is unpredictable.

The national government in its manual for nuclear emergency calls for a location specific evacuation. People living in areas within five kilometers from a nuclear power station will be ordered to evacuate immediately in the event of a nuclear crisis while those in areas up to 30 km will be required to stay in their homes until the government issues an evacuation order.

A Takahama town government official said that if townspeople follow the state manual, no traffic jam will occur. However, there is no guarantee that people outside a 5km-radius will sit at home and wait as the manual instructs.

Past related articles:
> Reactivation of Takahama NPP sparks protest actions around country [January 30, 2016]
> Fukui’s nuclear disaster evacuation plan full of holes [January 27, 2014]