DATE=10/1/1999 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT TITLE=JAPAN / NUCLEAR NUMBER=2-254544 BYLINE=KARRIN AMODEO DATELINE=TOKYO CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: Japanese authorities say the atomic reaction at the heart of the nation's worst ever nuclear accident is under control. Karrin Amodeo reports from Tokyo, local residents within a ten kilometer radius of the site are now being allowed to leave their homes, after being restricted indoors since Thursday evening TEXT: Officials say radiation levels in all but two spots near the accident have returned to normal. Radiation readings had soared up to 20- thousand times the usual level after Thursday morning's accident, at a privately-owned uranium processing plant in Tokaimura, 110 kilometers northeast of Tokyo. Workers accidentally pumped too much liquid uranium into a tank of nitric acid while making nuclear fuel. This led to Japan's first ever self-sustaining nuclear fission chain reaction. Nuclear fission is the principal behind the atomic bomb. When nuetrons hit uranium, atoms split and huge amounts of energy and radiation are released. The Tokaimura plant was not designed to contain this sort of accident. News of the disaster was slow to emerge. The owners of the plant waited one hour before informing local authorities about the mishap. And it took most of Thursday for the government to fully assess the situation. Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka acknowledged Friday that the government response to the nuclear accident was too slow. He added it is shameful that such an accident could occur at all, in a modern nation. The accident is the latest in a series of mishaps that continue to plague the nuclear industry here. The Tokaimura complex has been the scene of several accidents in recent years. Following Thursday's explosion, at least 55 people were exposed to radiation, including two workers who remain in a critical condition. Japan relies heavily on nuclear power because it is poor in natural resources. Fifty-one atomic plants provide one third of the country's electricity. Yet environmentalists say the nuclear industry here has no culture of safety. A top official at the Ministry of International Trade and Industry says Japan should reconsider its nuclear power policy because the accident was so serious. NEB/KA/FC 01-Oct-1999 04:07 AM LOC (01-Oct-1999 0807 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .
