The prime minister's office was not linked to the government's nuclear disaster teleconference system when the crisis broke out at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant March 11, 2011, government sources said Tuesday.
The teleconference system is designed to link the prime minister's office, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, off-site centers near nuclear power plants and local governments that host nuclear power plants, to help them share information and discuss measures to be taken.
Equipment for the system is located in a conference room on the fourth floor of the prime minister's office, not in the crisis management center in the office's basement floor, the sources said.