Japanese criticality accident

[Mrtgoldman@aol.com]

Three Hurt at Japan Uranium Plant

By KOZO MIZOGUCHI
.c The Associated Press

TOKYO (Sept. 30) - A major leak at a uranium-processing plant in northeastern 
Japan today sent radiation levels skyrocketing and contaminated dozens of 
workers, sending at least three to the hospital.

The nuclear reaction, which prompted authorities to order 310,000 residents 
to remain in their homes, was continuing early Friday. Workers began removing 
water from the cooling equipment around the tank to stop it, Science and 
Technology Agency official Eiichiro Watanabe said.

''A major accident resulting in a radioactive leak has happened. We apologize 
from the bottom of our hearts,'' said Koji Kitani, president of JCO Co., the 
private company that operates the plant.

Company officials said they thought that while radioactivity was released 
into the atmosphere, the radioactive material itself remained contained.

Hiromu Nonaka, the top government spokesman, called the accident 
''unprecedented,'' and officials said no previous Japanese accident had left 
workers so seriously injured. About 150 people were evacuated from the area 
around the plant in the town of Tokaimura, 70 miles northeast of Tokyo.

In Washington, President Clinton expressed deep concern and said the United 
States ''will do whatever we possibly can that will be helpful to them.''

''This is going to be a very hard day for the people of Japan,'' he added. 
Energy Secretary Bill Richardson said the United States and Russia were 
prepared to send a joint team of nuclear experts to Japan.

Richardson told CNN in a telephone interview from Russia that U.S. scientists 
are ready to leave on a moment's notice, along with high-tech robots that can 
work in areas too dangerous for human beings. He said the United States was 
awaiting a formal request for help from Japan.

Two of the injured workers were in critical condition and at least 34 other 
workers may have been contaminated. Five residents were also exposed to 
radiation, a local official said on customary condition of anonymity.

The Tokyo Electric Power Co. rushed 880 pounds of sodium borate to the site, 
but authorities were trying to figure out how to get close enough to dump the 
powder on the radioactive holding tank and snuff the fission, company 
official Kohgo Usami said.

Nuclear fission happens when neutrons hit uranium, causing atoms to split and 
thus releasing huge amounts of energy. It is the principle behind the atomic 
bomb. Water stimulates the neutrons' activity, spurring along the reaction.

The three workers said they saw a blue light, then became ill, said Makoto 
Ujihara, head of the Tokyo office of JCO. JCO is owned by Sumitomo Metal 
Mining Co., one of Japan's largest business groups.

The nuclear reaction apparently began while the workers were putting uranium 
in a tank with nitric acid as part of the process for making fuel for nuclear 
power plants, a highly delicate task, company officials said. The workers may 
have put too much uranium in the tank, triggering an uncontrolled reaction, 
the officials said.

State officials said they believe a gas containing alpha, beta and gamma 
radiation leaked from the plant.

Radiation levels around the plant were 10,000 times higher than normal at one 
point, and about 10 times more than normal 1 1/4 miles from the accident, 
said Tatsuo Shimada, an official of Ibaraki prefecture, or state.

The levels dropped off later, but they remained higher than normal, said 
Science and Technology Agency official Ken Muraoka. It is the first such 
accidental reaction in Japan, Japanese media reported.

The government set up a task force of top ministers to investigate the 
accident. It sent specialists to the area to monitor the radioactivity.

The exposed workers were initially taken to a local hospital. They were later 
flown to a medical center specializing in radiation sickness.

Two of the workers - Hisashi Ouchi, 35, and Masato Shinohara, 39 - were in 
critical condition, hospital official Yukio Kamakura said. They were in a 
state of shock and had fever and diarrhea. All three had an unusually high 
white blood cell count, although Yutaka Yokokawa, 54, was alert and able to 
walk, he said.

A total of 34 other workers were being examined for possible contamination, 
said JCO official Junichi Takahashi.

Hair samples from 11 workers, who had been evacuated to the community center, 
showed traces of radioactivity, Tatsuhito Matsuzaki a local official said 
early Friday. The level of their exposure wasn't immediately known.

Warnings to residents were broadcast over the town's loudspeaker system, and 
nearby schools were instructed to close their windows and keep students 
inside, said another official in Tokaimura, population 33,000.

Accidents have plagued the Japanese nuclear power industry, undermining 
public faith in the security of the nation's atomic plants. Japan, poor in 
natural resources, relies on nuclear power for about one-third of its 
electricity.

In one of the most serious of recent accidents, a fire at a fuel reprocessing 
plant in northern Japan exposed 37 workers to low-level radiation in March 
1997.

 AP-NY-09-30-99 1526EDT
 
Copyright 1999 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news 
report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed 
without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active 
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