OTSU, Shiga Prefecture--Radiation simulators for use in emergencies will be installed in five prefectures, including Shiga, that lie within 30 kilometers of nuclear plants.
OTSU, Shiga Prefecture--Radiation simulators for use in emergencies will be installed in five prefectures, including Shiga, that lie within 30 kilometers of nuclear plants.The devices, terminals used by SPEEDI (System for Prediction of Environmental Emergency Dose Information), simulate concentrations of airborne radioactive substances and radiation doses in humans.Installation and maintenance expenses were included in the fiscal 2012 draft budget for the ministry of science and technology, the operator of SPEEDI.Shiga and other prefectures have been calling for access to the system following the March accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.Installation will include terminals that collect data on weather conditions and radioactive substances, as well as terminals that display diffusion forecasts created by the Nuclear Safety Technology Center on the basis of the data collected.SPEEDI terminals have been installed in 19 prefectures that either contain a nuclear plant or a related facility, or are in an Emergency Planning Zone (EPZ) within an 8- to 10-km radius of a nuclear plant or a related facility.In October, a working committee of the Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan proposed expanding EPZs to create a new Urgent Protective Action Planning Zone (UPZ) with a radius of 30 km.In line with the proposal, SPEEDI terminals will now be installed in five more prefectures--Shiga, Fukuoka, Yamaguchi, Toyama and Gifu, sources said.