DATE=10/8/1999 TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT TITLE=JAPAN / NUCLEAR NUMBER=5-44447 BYLINE=JOCELYN FORD DATELINE=TOKYO CONTENT= VOICED AT: Intro: Japanese officials Friday said there will be no permanent impact on health or the environment in the vicinity of the nuclear plant, which was the site of the nation's worst nuclear accident. But as we hear in this background report from Jocelyn Ford in Tokyo, the same cannot be said for Japan's nuclear industry, which could feel the backlash from angry public opinion. TEXT: The Japanese like to talk about how their nation rose out of the ashes of World War Two, like a Phoenix. The same is true for Japan's nuclear energy program -- or so the explanation goes in this publicity video (start fade up) produced by the pro- nuclear, Atomic Energy Relations Organization. /// Fade UP SOUND OF BOMB, DRAMATIC MUSIC /// /// ACT - VIDEO NARRATION /// August 6, 1945, an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima (Fade Under) /// END ACT /// When Japan first started pursuing nuclear energy, less than a decade had passed since the United States dropped the A-bomb on Hiroshima. Nuclear power industry officials realized they had a major public relations problem on their hands: how to convince a nation shocked by the horror of nuclear destruction that they should abandon the so-called nuclear allergy and embrace nuclear technology for everyday things like flicking on a light. Thus was born one of the world's most aggressive nuclear power public relations programs. To overcome initial resistance, the government offered generous subsidies to communities that agreed to host nuclear facilities. This was financed by a tax on electricity. Professor Tatsujiro Suzuki is a nuclear energy expert at the University of Tokyo. /// ACT SUZUKI /// For some small village, the tax income is something like 20 or 30 percent of the income of that village. /// END ACT /// The ability to deliver new concert halls and gymnasiums was a big vote winner for politicians. And Tokaimura, the town 110 kilometers from Tokyo where the accident occurred, is a case in point. Professor Suzuki says that one of Japan's more influential politicians, Seiroku Kajiyama, was responsible for bringing the nuclear facilities to Tokaimura early on. /// ACT SUZUKI /// At that time this was the pioneering, the frontier of technology, and the future energy source, and all prestigious laboratories were coming, and he was a kind of -- he was a hero. ///END ACT /// As every schoolchild is taught, Japan has virtually no natural resources. Additionally, government and industry have pushed nuclear power as a way to reduce greenhouse gases that cause global warming. At least until the latest accident, the public seemed to be acquiescent. Japan depends on nuclear power for 37 percent of its energy needs. Even after accidents at Chernobyl and Three Mile Island made many people in North America and Europe lose their taste for nuclear power, Japan along with France, continued to be among the few industrialized countries to pursue ambitious nuclear programs. Now, despite the accident at Tokaimura, Japan's government has pledged to stick to its plan of building another 10 to 16 plants over the next decade. But Hiroichi Akasaki of the Japan Atomic Energy Relations Organization, an industry group, says he is not so confident about the future. ///ACT AKASAKI (JAPANESE) ESTABLISH AND FADE UNDER /// He says the nuclear industry managed to survive Chernobyl. But he does not think that after this accident Japanese people are going to be very receptive of nuclear power plants anymore. The nuclear industry's concern about public reaction does not stop at Japan's shoreline. The biggest hope for nuclear plant manufacturers such as Mitsubishi and Toshiba had been the growing appetite for energy elsewhere in Asia. The largest potential market is China. But South Korea and Taiwan have significant nuclear power programs, as well. Thailand and Indonesia are also considering whether to introduce nuclear power. There are signs that last week's accident has made them wary. Professor Suzuki says he was consulting with Indonesian government nuclear experts when the accident took place, and he expects the going to be rough. ///ACT SUZUKI /// They thought Japanese nuclear technology is high quality, they never suspected that the accident would happen. And they tried to explain to the general public (see this is a successful program in) Japan, they are very safe so we can do the same thing. And the accident happened so they can't explain to the public any more. ///END ACT /// Japanese authorities are equally at a loss at how to explain to the public at home why there have been so many recent accidents and why, in the latest case, workers at Tokaimura had been flagrantly violating government regulations for years, without attracting the attention of authorities. While at one time the public seemed willing to take the government at its word about the safety of nuclear power, now nuclear publicity officials find they need a new remedy to cope with the latest strain of the nuclear allergy. (signed) NEB/JF/FC 08-Oct-1999 06:54 AM EDT (08-Oct-1999 1054 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .
