ID :
176248
Mon, 04/18/2011 - 17:31
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/176248
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Local gov'ts review disaster prevention plans after quake, tsunami
TOKYO, April 18 Kyodo - Local governments in Japan have been reviewing their respective disaster prevention plans in the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami disaster which caused devastating damage in the eastern half of Japan and has triggered a nuclear crisis in Fukushima Prefecture.
The move comes as the disaster involved greater-than-anticipated tsunami waves which destroyed houses and other structures in the coastal areas of the northeastern region, causing more than 13,000 deaths, and crippled the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant where there have been leaks of radioactive substances.
As local governments have drawn up their antidisaster plans based on the central government's basic plan for disaster prevention, some local officials have called for the state to take the lead in mapping out new guidelines as there are limits to what localities can do on their own.
But some local governments have expressed willingness to go ahead and begin work to revise their schemes.
''If the central government does not proceed with reviewing its guidelines, we will make a head start on our own,'' said a Hokkaido prefectural government official.
An official of the Fukui prefectural government said, ''We cannot just wait. We will start off with what we can do,'' adding that the local government will review the evacuation manuals of coastal municipalities and ask those without a guide to compile one promptly.
Among municipalities, Oita Prefecture's Usuki, which faces Usuki Bay, has begun examining its disaster measures based on a scenario for tsunami as high as 10 meters, rather than 3 meters in the current supposition.
The Usuki city government is also considering measuring the height of roads above sea level to secure safe evacuation routes and moving some functions of the city government office, located near the sea, to different areas.
The ongoing nuclear crisis at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima Daiichi plant has also forced local governments to prepare for a possible accident at other nuclear power plants in Japan.
The Kyoto prefectural government plans to double its emergency planning zone to a provisional 20-kilometer radius from the Takahama nuclear power plant operated by Kansai Electric Power Co. in neighboring Fukui Prefecture.
The Kagawa prefectural government is considering including in its antidisaster plan a reference to Shikoku Electric Power Co.'s Ikata atomic power plant located more than 130 km away in Ehime Prefecture.
In Hokkaido, eight towns and a village that are located within a 10- to 30-kilometer radius from the Tomari nuclear power plant run by Hokkaido Electric Power Co. have set up a consultative committee on their own and are considering conducting joint emergency evacuation drills.
In addition to evacuation manuals, local governments hosting or located close to nuclear power plants must also think of measures to prevent damage from quake-triggered tsunami.
An official of the government of Niigata Prefecture, where Tokyo Electric's Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear complex is located, said, ''The (March 11) disaster was beyond our scope of assumption. How big a disaster should we assume? Everything is difficult.''
An Aomori prefectural government official sought a grand design by the central government, saying governments at the prefectural level cannot devise ultimate countermeasures without it.
''Should we build a seawall that can withstand a tsunami as high as 20 meters or focus more on aspects such as strengthening our measures for evacuation?'' said the official of the northwestern prefecture which hosts Tohoku Electric Power Co.'s Higashidori nuclear power plant.
The move comes as the disaster involved greater-than-anticipated tsunami waves which destroyed houses and other structures in the coastal areas of the northeastern region, causing more than 13,000 deaths, and crippled the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant where there have been leaks of radioactive substances.
As local governments have drawn up their antidisaster plans based on the central government's basic plan for disaster prevention, some local officials have called for the state to take the lead in mapping out new guidelines as there are limits to what localities can do on their own.
But some local governments have expressed willingness to go ahead and begin work to revise their schemes.
''If the central government does not proceed with reviewing its guidelines, we will make a head start on our own,'' said a Hokkaido prefectural government official.
An official of the Fukui prefectural government said, ''We cannot just wait. We will start off with what we can do,'' adding that the local government will review the evacuation manuals of coastal municipalities and ask those without a guide to compile one promptly.
Among municipalities, Oita Prefecture's Usuki, which faces Usuki Bay, has begun examining its disaster measures based on a scenario for tsunami as high as 10 meters, rather than 3 meters in the current supposition.
The Usuki city government is also considering measuring the height of roads above sea level to secure safe evacuation routes and moving some functions of the city government office, located near the sea, to different areas.
The ongoing nuclear crisis at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima Daiichi plant has also forced local governments to prepare for a possible accident at other nuclear power plants in Japan.
The Kyoto prefectural government plans to double its emergency planning zone to a provisional 20-kilometer radius from the Takahama nuclear power plant operated by Kansai Electric Power Co. in neighboring Fukui Prefecture.
The Kagawa prefectural government is considering including in its antidisaster plan a reference to Shikoku Electric Power Co.'s Ikata atomic power plant located more than 130 km away in Ehime Prefecture.
In Hokkaido, eight towns and a village that are located within a 10- to 30-kilometer radius from the Tomari nuclear power plant run by Hokkaido Electric Power Co. have set up a consultative committee on their own and are considering conducting joint emergency evacuation drills.
In addition to evacuation manuals, local governments hosting or located close to nuclear power plants must also think of measures to prevent damage from quake-triggered tsunami.
An official of the government of Niigata Prefecture, where Tokyo Electric's Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear complex is located, said, ''The (March 11) disaster was beyond our scope of assumption. How big a disaster should we assume? Everything is difficult.''
An Aomori prefectural government official sought a grand design by the central government, saying governments at the prefectural level cannot devise ultimate countermeasures without it.
''Should we build a seawall that can withstand a tsunami as high as 20 meters or focus more on aspects such as strengthening our measures for evacuation?'' said the official of the northwestern prefecture which hosts Tohoku Electric Power Co.'s Higashidori nuclear power plant.
