Emergency Responses to Accidents during Nuclear Material Transport in Japan

It is crucial that emergency responses be readied in advance to protect the public against accidents which may occur in the transport of nuclear material, despite the fact that no such accidents or incidents resulting in radiological consequences have yet to occur in Japan. In addition to the standard emergency framework, the Japanese government enacted the “Act on Special Measures Concerning Nuclear Emergency Preparedness” in 1999 to counter nuclear emergencies. Accordingly, radiological consequences were assessed based on hypothetical conditions beyond the accident conditions, which led to the government issuing a guideline specifically for emergencies during transport. Based on the guideline, carriers prepare their own response plans for emergencies during transport and submitted them to regulators for approval when so required. The Fukushima accident once again emphasized the importance of emergency responses and preparedness. The Nuclear Fuel Transport Co. ,Ltd. conducted risk assessments of transport to identify potential risks and enhanced training drills and exercises for responding to emergencies in order to continuously improve our emergency response capability.