Nuclear terrorismWikiLeaks: Japan brushes aside U.S. fears of nuke terrorism
Diplomatic cables obtained by WikiLeaks reveal that U.S. officials were concerned about terrorist attacks at Japan’s nuclear facilities and the government’s seemingly lax security measures; one cable dated 26 February 2007, detailed a meeting where Japanese officials brushed aside U.S. concerns for physical security at one of the country’s nuclear facilities; additional cables sent from the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo to Washington D.C. reported that anti-terrorism drills held at nuclear facilities were unrealistic and overly “scripted”
Diplomatic cables obtained by WikiLeaks reveal that U.S. officials were concerned about terrorist attacks at Japan’s nuclear facilities and the government’s seemingly lax security measures.
One cable dated 26 February 2007, detailed a meeting where Japanese officials brushed aside U.S. concerns for physical security at one of the country’s nuclear facilities.
In particular U.S. officials were worried about “physical protection” at “a major plutonium storage site” in Tokai, but Japanese officials said, “an assessment of local needs and resources had indicated that there was not a sufficient threat to justify armed police.”
The officials went on to say that under Japanese law, civilian guards could not be armed and it was the responsibility for plant operators and police to “determine the threat for individual plants and the necessity for armed guards.”
In response to U.S. requests to require background checks for all “workers with access to sensitive areas at nuclear facilities,” Japanese officials said that implementing such a procedure would be “very difficult.”
The officials explained that the government “is constitutionally prevented from mandating such checks and wishes to avoid raising what is a deeply sensitive privacy issue for Japanese society,” but such checks could be conducted “unofficially.”
Additional cables sent from the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo to Washington D.C. reported that anti-terrorism drills held at nuclear facilities were unrealistic and overly “scripted.”
In a cable dated 27 January 2006, U.S. diplomats said that an antiterrorism drill held in November 2005 at the Mihama nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture had gone “smoothly” but “was a bit too scripted and perfect.”
Another cable dated 2 November 2006 expressed similar concerns about another antiterrorism drill held in September of that year at the Tokai nuclear facility. The drill had been so scripted that even some Japanese officials had “pointed out flaws in the drill, saying it was unrealistic because participants had advance copies of the scenario.”
