On the occurrence of a nuclear accident at a uranium-processing plant in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture, a government countermeasures headquarters headed by Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi was set up. The Prime Minister, the Chief Cabinet Secretary, the Director General of the Science and Technology Agency, the Minister for Home Affairs and Chairman of the National Public Safety Commission, the Director General of the Defense Agency, and other relevant ministers, as well as the Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretaries, the Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary for Crisis Management, and other government officials, met in the Crisis Management Center in the Prime Minister's Official Residence. The Prime Minister instructed the relevant Cabinet ministers and officials to put in place effective government arrangements to cope with Japan's first-ever critical-mass nuclear accident and ordered that the necessary measures be taken.