Japan to Revise Nuclear Disaster Response Guidelines

Tokyo, April 2 (Jiji Press)--Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority decided Wednesday to revise its nuclear disaster response guidelines, mainly to clarify the conditions for lifting a shelter-in-place order.

In response to a report proposing a review of how to implement shelter-in-place orders that was compiled by an NRA expert team, the nuclear safety watchdog will also add a section on cases in which going outside should be permitted while such an order is in place.

The NRA's Secretariat will draw up a draft to revise the guidelines, which are expected to be officially adopted around autumn.

The current guidelines call for residents within 5 to 30 kilometers of a nuclear power plant to stay indoors if a release of radioactive materials is expected to occur in a serious accident.

But the shelter-in-place period and the timing of its lifting are not specified. The NRA set up the expert team in April last year to discuss the matter.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]