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Danger from Japanese nuclear accident debated
35 plant workers exposed to radiation
March 12, 1997
Web posted at: 10:31 a.m. EST (1531 GMT)In this story:
- 'A major accident'
- Prime minister apologizes, criticizes
- Another plant forced to shutdown in '95
- Related stories and sites
TOKAIMURA, Japan (CNN) -- Two fires and an explosion at a nuclear processing plant in northeastern Japan exposed 35 workers to minimal amounts of radiation, a plant spokesman said Wednesday.
No one was injured in the incidents, which occurred in the same area 10 hours apart Tuesday.
Radioactivity levels remained well within safe limits around the government-run plant, which contains no nuclear reactor, officials said.
They said exposed workers inhaled only extremely minute quantities of radiation. All were given a clean bill of health and sent home.
'A major accident'
Skeptics, however, were not convinced that all is well. "This was a major accident," said nuclear expert Hideyuki Ban. "The explosion was big one, and you can never underestimate the effect of radiation."
There were no evacuations in Tokaimura, 100 miles (160 km) northeast of Tokyo, which depends heavily on the plant for jobs. But some local residents indicated they are concerned about how the facility is operated.
"You just never know what they are doing in there. It's hard to believe them," one man said.
Prime minister apologizes, criticizes
Nuclear spokesmen were on the defensive about why the fire was not properly extinguished, leading to the explosion and second fire, which endangered cleanup workers.
Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto apologized to the nation about Japan's worst atomic accident.
He also joined environmental groups in condemning authorities for their slowness in disclosing the extent of the accident at the Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corp. (PNC) plant.
"The Japanese government just coddles the nuclear industry," charged Hideaki Takemura of Greenpeace-Japan. "Compared to other countries, the preparation for nuclear accidents is extremely weak."
Another plant forced to shutdown in '95
This is not the first time the PNC has come under fire. In December 1995, the forced shutdown of Japan's only fast-breeder reactor, called Monju, after a coolant leak and the subsequent attempt to cover-up the incident only heightened safety concerns.
"Looking at how (the government) handled the Tokaimura accident, it seems that officials have learned nothing from Monju," Ban said. Although the accident at Monju did not leak radiation, the reactor remains closed.
The Tokaimura plant is Japan's only nuclear reprocessing facility, extracting plutonium from spent nuclear fuel. Irradiated liquid waste, a by-product of the process, is mixed with asphalt for storage in drums.
The facility reprocesses about 12 percent of spent nuclear fuel from Japan's 51 running commercial nuclear power plants, with the rest reprocessed at French plants.
Japan plans to build more nuclear plants in an attempt to meet the country's future energy needs.
Tokyo Bureau Chief John Lewis and Reuters contributed to this report.
Related story:
- Fire at Japanese nuclear plant exposes 21 to radiation - March 11, 1997
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