DATE=9/30/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=JAPAN / NUKE ACCIDENT / L-O
NUMBER=2-254491
BYLINE=KARRIN AMODEO
DATELINE=TOKYO
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Three workers have been injured after
exposure to radiation at a uranium processing
plant in Northeast Japan early Thursday morning.
The cause of the accident was not immediately
known. Karrin Amodeo has more in this report from
Tokyo.
TEXT: The accident occurred after a fire broke
out at a privately owned uranium reprocessing
plant in Tokaimura, 110 kilometers northeast of
Tokyo. The three injured workers were taken by
helicopter to a hospital. One is reported to be
in serious condition.
The Nuclear Safety Bureau of Japan's Science and
Technology Agency says the accident released
radiation that was twenty times above the normal
level. Officials say the escaped radiation is not
enough to affect public. The level soon returned
to normal.
Police nevertheless closed off the area within a
three-kilometer radius of the facility.
Residents of three households near the plant were
advised to evacuate. Schools were told to
close their windows and keep students inside.
Because it is poor in natural resources, Japan
relies heavily on nuclear power. Fifty-two atomic
plants provide one third of the country's
electricity. In some areas of the country, nearly
everyone has a relative or a friend who works at
a nuclear plant.
But along with the economic benefits of jobs have
come the series of accidents and scandals that
have always plagued the nation's nuclear
industry. The Tokaimura complex has been the
scene of several accidents in recent years.
Almost 70 percent of Japanese say they feel
insecure about atomic plants because of the
radiation leaks, fires and official cover ups of
past incidents.
Officials at the Tokyo-based J-C-O Company that runs
the plant have refused to comment.
NEB/KA/FC
30-Sep-1999 04:31 AM EDT (30-Sep-1999 0831 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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