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Japan Revokes Nuclear Plant License - AP Article
Japan Revokes Nuclear Plant License
Updated 9:59 AM ET March 28, 2000
TOKYO (AP) - The government on Tuesday revoked the license of a uranium processing plant for causing Japan's worst nuclear accident that killed one worker and seriously sickened two others.
More than 400 residents were exposed to radiation on Sept. 30, 1999 at the JCO Co. plant in Tokaimura, about 70 miles northeast of Tokyo.
The death was the first ever in a nuclear accident in the country. Of the two exposed workers, one remains hospitalized in serious condition while the other has been discharged.
Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, who signed the letter to the company, called JCO's responsibility for the accident "extremely serious" and that it deserved to be stripped of the license.
The penalty was effective immediately.
JCO, the first plant operator to face the penalty under Japanese law regulating nuclear fuel, materials and reactors, remains in business now only to handle compensation and cleanup related to the accident, agency spokesman Junichi Fushimi said.
The agency also urged JCO and its parent Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., to help in a government-sponsored health check for the residents and follow government instructions in preserving the accident site.
"We take it very seriously," JCO president Hiroharu Kitani said in a statement. "We'll act responsibly in taking care of the accident."
It occurred when workers at the plant ignored regulations and combined nitric acid with seven times the approved amount of enriched uranium, setting off an uncontrolled atomic reaction.
Last month, the company promised support for finding new jobs for its employees and compensation for the victims. It also announced measures to preserve the safety of the accident site.
The government in February announced that it would repeal JCO's operating license, but that the company would have a chance to appeal the decision at a hearing earlier this month. JCO, however, decided not to appeal.
On Monday, a government study group published a report criticizing the government's slow handling of the accident.
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Jim Hardeman, Manager
Environmental Radiation Program
Environmental Protection Division
Georgia Department of Natural Resources
4244 International Parkway, Suite 114
Atlanta, GA 30354
(404) 362-2675 fax: (404) 362-2653
Jim_Hardeman@mail.dnr.state.ga.us
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