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3 Tokaimura residents to sue JCO, Sumitomo Metal
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3 Tokaimura residents to sue JCO, Sumitomo Metal
Hiroshima peace museum records 50 mil. visitors
British Energy to shut second Dungeness unit
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3 Tokaimura residents to sue JCO, Sumitomo Metal
TOKYO, Aug. 19 (Kyodo) - Three residents of Tokaimura, Ibaraki
Prefecture, will sue JCO Co., the operator of the uranium processing
plant where Japan's worst nuclear accident occurred in September
1999, and its parent company, Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., for
compensation for health hazards, the residents said Monday.
The plaintiffs -- Shoichi Oizumi, 74, the owner of an auto parts
company, his 62-year-old wife, Keiko, and a mailman in his 30s, who
wishes to remain anonymous -- will file the suit, probably at the
beginning of September, at the Mito District Court, they said.
Oizumi and his wife were in their factory some 120 meters west of the
JCO plant on Sept. 30, 1999 when the accident occurred and exposed
them to radiation, they said.
Oizumi suffered skin damage and his wife was hospitalized for a
gastric ulcer shortly after the accident and also suffered post-
traumatic stress disorder, they said.
The mailman, who was near the site at the time of the accident, also
suffered stomach problems, Oizumi said.
The three formed a victims' group with some 100 other residents of
the eastern Japan village in February 2000 and the group has been
negotiating with JCO over the damages, they said.
But the three decided to file the suit after JCO on July 22 refused
to pay any compensation for the health hazards, saying it cannot
recognize any causal association between the health problems and the
radiation, Oizumi said.
The company based its decision on the state's claim in November 1999
that hardly any effects of radiation on local residents' health could
be detected.
Oizumi, who serves as the representative of the group, said, ''We do
not want people to forget the incident or settle without getting
anything. We hope to deal with the issue as a group.''
JCO has paid 15 billion yen in compensation to farmers for damage to
their business as consumers boycotted produce from the area. It also
paid 50,000 yen to each resident living within 350 meters from the
accident site and 30,000 yen each to residents living outside the 350-
meter zone, describing the payments as a gift or token of sympathy.
On Sept. 30, 1999, a nuclear fission chain reaction occurred at the
uranium processing plant, 120 kilometers northeast of Tokyo.
Two of the plant workers died later from radiation sickness and more
than 600 people were exposed to radiation as a result of the
accident.
-----------------
Hiroshima peace museum records 50 mil. visitors
HIROSHIMA, Aug. 19 (Kyodo) - The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum has
seen over 50 million visitors since its opening in 1955, museum
officials said Monday.
The 50 millionth visitor, Shigeru Taniguchi, 31, from the city of
Tokushima, arrived at the museum around 3:15 p.m. with a group of
Tokushima elementary school pupils in Hiroshima for a basketball
competition.
Taniguchi said he took the kids to the museum because it is something
they do not get to see in Tokushima and he was surprised at the
coincidence.
The museum's director Minoru Hataguchi presented Taniguchi with
souvenirs, including a tapestry with the print of the renowned atomic
bomb dome, a World Cultural Heritage site that survived the U.S.
atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945.
The peace museum opened in August 1955 and has received over one
million visitors every year since fiscal 1979.
''The 50 million visitors includes many national leaders as well as
the Pope,'' Hataguchi said. He said he hopes incumbent officials of
nuclear powers will visit the museum.
Distinguished visitors to the museum include India's late Prime
Minister Javaharlal Neru in 1957, Pope John Paul II in 1981, former
U.S. President Jimmy Carter in 1984 and former Soviet President
Mikhail Gorbachev in 1992, according to museum officials.
The museum has seen a rapid increase in high school student visitors
since September last year as many overseas school excursions were
canceled after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.
Rentals of audio guide recorders at the museum have also risen
sharply since a new version recorded by popular Japanese actress
Sayuri Yoshinaga was introduced this month.
------------------
British Energy to shut second Dungeness unit
LONDON, Aug 18 (Reuters) - UK utility British Energy said on Sunday
both units at its Dungeness B nuclear power plant in Kent
would be closed for scheduled maintenance from Monday.
The timing of the shutdown is another blow for the nuclear power
producer, whose shares tumbled 35 percent last week after it said
it had taken a reactor out of service for unscheduled repairs at
another station and cut its generation forecasts.
At Dungeness, British Energy already had closed one of its two 550-
megawatt units on August 7. A spokesman said the second
unit at the plant would shut on Monday for refuelling.
"It's purely standard as part of refuelling and maintenance
procedure," he said.
Analysts said last week's closure of the 600 megawatt reactor at
Torness power station in Scotland was a production setback and
deepened worries the company would be forced to cut its dividend
payment.
The shares closed on Friday at 61-1/2 pence, after falling as low as
47p.
Several investment banks cut their rating on the stock after last
week's outage, and credit rating agency Fitch downgraded the
company's senior unsecured rating and put it on rating watch
negative.
The Business newspaper said on Sunday that British Energy's troubles
had prompted several potential suitors to stalk the company,
mainly due to the attraction of its nuclear assets in North America.
The newspaper said several U.S. power companies were looking at the
firm, as was Germany's RWE.
The British Energy spokesman said he could not add to comments made
last week by Executive Chairman Robin Jeffrey, who said the board
would consider options but gave no further details.
The utility company's market capitalisation has dropped to about 400
million pounds ($613.8 million), down 73 percent since the start of
the year.
-------------------------------------------------
Sandy Perle
Director, Technical
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Service
ICN Plaza, 3300 Hyland Avenue
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100 Extension 2306
Fax:(714) 668-3149
E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net
E-Mail: sperle@icnpharm.com
Personal Website: http://sandy-travels.com/
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com/
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