Gov't to mediate on Tokaimura nuke compensation claim

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

Gov't to mediate on Tokaimura nuke compensation claim

MITO, Japan, Aug. 26 (Kyodo) - Governmental mediators will take on a 
compensation claim made by a fermented soybeans maker against JCO 
Co., operator of a plant where Japan's worst nuclear accident 
occurred last fall, sources close to the case said Friday. 

The soybeans maker in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture, is seeking more 
than 1 billion yen in damages and asked the mediation board to 
intervene as talks between the company and JCO had stalled, the 
sources said. 

The 10-member board, set up under a 1961 law on compensation over 
nuclear accidents, will start mediation work -- the first involving 
the Tokaimura nuclear accident -- on Monday. 

The soybeans company, located within 10 kilometers of JCO's uranium-
processing plant, where a nuclear fission chain reaction occurred, 
had its products removed from shelves at supermarkets across Japan 
immediately after the accident. 

In the past negotiations, JCO offered to pay compensation for the 
firm's losses in the three months after the Sept. 30 accident, but 
the company demanded the payment should cover a longer period as 
sales of its products continue to be stagnant, the sources said. 

By the end of July, JCO had paid 12.29 billion yen in compensation to 
local residents and firms in the village, settling some 97.5% of the 
disputes related to the accident. However, 175 cases reportedly still 
remain to be worked out. 

Negotiations have hit a snag in several dozen cases. A lawyer for one 
of the companies which filed compensation claims expressed anger, 
saying JCO is ''insincere,'' as it refuses to talk with the firm. 

The 10-member mediation board was set up in October last year 
following the accident. 

Parties seeking compensation can take their cases to court if 
mediation by the board consisting of lawyers and radiology experts 
does not satisfy them. 

JCO is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. 

Two JCO workers -- Hisashi Ouchi, 35 and Masato Shinohara, 40 -- have 
died from exposure to a huge amount of radiation in the accident. 

The accident took place when Ouchi, Shinohara and another JCO worker 
poured a large amount of uranium into a tank not designed to hold the 
radioactive substance. 

At least 439 people, including 207 residents in Tokaimura, were found 
exposed to radiation, mostly in minor doses. 

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Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	
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