A Nuclear Regulation Authority panel introduced new criteria Thursday for issuing atomic crisis evacuation orders that are twice as stringent as current international benchmarks.
The new standards will be reflected in a government guideline for nuclear disaster steps.
Under the new standards, in the event of a fallout crisis involving a nuclear plant, residents outside a 5-km radius of the facility will be told to evacuate within several hours if the radiation level reaches 500 microsieverts per hour. This compares with the figure set by the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency: 1,000 microsieverts.