Japan Nuclear Program Recovers

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

Wednesday September 9 4:40 PM EDT 

TOKYO (AP) - The new president of Japan's state-run nuclear 
power company said Wednesday the company has reformed
itself and will regain the public's trust following a series of 
accidents and cover-ups. 

The Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation 
launched a restructuring program last year and the new company
will open Oct. 1 as the Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute. 

``Our major obligation is to regain the public trust as soon as 
possible and the new organization will attach top priority on the
guarantee of safety,'' the company's new president, Yasumasa 
Togo, told reporters. 

Japan's faith in nuclear power was shaken after plant officials tried 
to cover up damage from a fire at a nuclear reprocessing
facility in March 1997 that exposed 37 workers to low-level 
radiation. 

Nuclear energy opponents used the incident to press their claim 
that the nation's atomic power program lacks accountability and
ignores serious safety hazards. 

Togo, who was named company president in July, has promised to 
open the new company's operations to greater public scrutiny. 

``We believe that openness in exchanging information is the very 
basis of the survival of our organization,'' he said. 

In a ruling Wednesday, a regional high court in central Japan 
dismissed a case filed to stop operations at a nuclear plant located 
on the Sea of Japan coast, which is run by one of the country's 
nine electric power firms, Keizo Yamada, president of Hokuriku
Electric Power Co., said in a statement. 

The Nagoya High Court upheld a lower court's 1994 decision that 
the plant posed no safety threat even in the event of a major
earthquake, as claimed by the citizen's group that brought the 
case. 

Togo said a long restructuring process that began in April 1997 has 
resulted in a trimmer, more efficient and more responsible
company. 

The first major stain on the company's reputation came in 1995 
when officials were forced to admit they concealed the severity of
a liquid sodium leak at the prototype Monju reactor in western 
Japan. 

Togo also said the new company will intensify research into 
effective ways to dispose of nuclear waste, which has been a 
source of deep controversy in Japan. 

Japan currently has 51 commercial nuclear power plants, supplying 
about one-third of the nation's electricity, according to
government figures. 

------------------
Sandy Perle
Technical Director
ICN Dosimetry Division
ICN Plaza
3300 Hyland Avenue
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Office: (800) 548-5100 x2306 
Fax:    (714) 668-3149
  
sandyfl@earthlink.net
sperle@icnpharm.com

ICN Dosimetry Website:
http://www.dosimetry.com

Personal Website:
http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/1205

"The object of opening the mind, as of opening 
the mouth, is to close it again on something solid"
              - G. K. Chesterton -

The opinions expressed are solely, absolutely, positively, definitely those of the author, and NOT my employer
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