Japan to use soldiers against Y2K bug

Tokyo - Japan's government said yesterday it would deploy 96,000 soldiers over the new year in case of millennium bug (Y2K) accidents…

Tokyo - Japan's government said yesterday it would deploy 96,000 soldiers over the new year in case of millennium bug (Y2K) accidents, including special units to tackle nuclear incidents. Tokyo is to put chemical units on standby across Japan to handle any possible incidents at nuclear power plants and other nuclear facilities, a spokesman said.

On September 30th, three workers at a uranium processing plant in Tokaimura, north-east of Tokyo, set off the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986.

  • Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date

  • Sign up for push alerts to get the best breaking news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone

  • Listen to In The News podcast daily for a deep dive on the stories that matter