2 Japnaese nuclear articles

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

Irradiated nuclear worker moved to different hospital

TOKYO, April 10 (Kyodo) - A plant worker exposed to an excessive dose 
of radiation last September in Japan's worst nuclear accident was 
transferred to a different hospital Monday to receive more 
generalized care, doctors said. 

Masato Shinohara, 40, a worker at a uranium-processing plant run by 
JCO Co., was moved from the Research Hospital of the University of 
Tokyo's Institute of Medical Science in Tokyo's Minato Ward to the 
University of Tokyo Hospital in Bunkyo Ward about 9 kilometers away. 

Shinohara arrived by ambulance at the University of Tokyo Hospital at 
around 11:30 a.m. and was carried to the intensive care unit, the 
doctors said. 

In late February, Shinohara experienced difficulty breathing on his 
own after contracting pneumonia and suffered internal bleeding in his 
stomach. He has since been breathing with a respirator. 

His condition has stabilized but remains unpredictable and his 
hospitalization is expected to be prolonged. Doctors had decided to 
move him to a better-equipped medical institution where he can 
undergo plastic surgery and rehabilitation. 

Shinohara was exposed to an estimated 8 sieverts of radiation at a 
JCO plant in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture, on Sept. 30. 

His colleague Hisashi Ouchi, 35, died Dec. 21 from multiple organ 
failure after being exposed to an estimated 17 sieverts. 

That level is said to be about 17,000 times the maximum annual 
permissible exposure in Japan. 

Shinohara, Ouchi and a third worker allegedly poured an excess amount 
of uranium into a processing tank, triggering a self-sustaining 
nuclear chain reaction. 

=====

Japan utility says nuke reactor had crack in pipe
  
TOKYO, April 10 (Reuters) - Kansai Electric Power Co Inc, Japan's 
second biggest utility, said on Monday it had found a small crack in 
a pipe at its nuclear reactor which was shut down last week after it 
leaked cooling water. 

There was no leak of radiation into the environment from the incident 
at the number two Mihama power plant in Fukui Prefecture, some 350 km 
(220 miles) northwest of Tokyo on the Sea of Japan coast, he said. 

A spokesman for Kansai Electric said it was not clear at this stage 
when the utility would be able to resume operations at the reactor. 

The leak was discovered at around 10 a.m. (0100 GMT) last Friday, and 
the company began manually shutting down the plant at around noon 
that day. The spokesman said the volume of the coolant leak was 
estimated at around 500-600 litres. 

Nuclear power accounts for about a third of Japan's electricity 
demand. 

A series of accidents at nuclear-related facilities in recent years, 
including the nation's worst nuclear accident at a uranium processing 
plant last September, has heightened public distrust of nuclear 
power. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	
Director, Technical				Extension 2306 				     	
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Division		Fax:(714) 668-3149 	                   		    
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