DATE=9/30/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=JAPAN / NUKE ACCIDENT / L-O
NUMBER=2-254491
BYLINE=KARRIN AMODEO
DATELINE=TOKYO
CONTENT=

VOICED AT:


INTRO: Three workers have been injured after 
exposure to radiation at a uranium processing 
plant in Northeast Japan early Thursday morning. 
The cause of the accident was not immediately 
known. Karrin Amodeo has more in this report from 
Tokyo. 


TEXT: The accident occurred after a fire broke 
out at a privately owned uranium reprocessing 
plant in Tokaimura, 110 kilometers northeast of 
Tokyo. The three injured workers were taken by 
helicopter to a hospital. One is reported to be 
in serious condition. 
 
The Nuclear Safety Bureau of Japan's Science and 
Technology Agency says the accident released 
radiation that was twenty times above the normal 
level. Officials say the escaped radiation is not 
enough to affect public. The level soon returned 
to normal.
 
Police nevertheless closed off the area within a 
three-kilometer radius of the facility.  
Residents of three households near the plant were 
advised to evacuate. Schools were told to
close their windows and keep students inside. 
 
Because it is poor in natural resources, Japan 
relies heavily on nuclear power. Fifty-two atomic 
plants provide one third of the country's 
electricity. In some areas of the country, nearly 
everyone has a relative or a friend who works at 
a nuclear plant. 
 
But along with the economic benefits of jobs have 
come the series of accidents and scandals that 
have always plagued the nation's nuclear 
industry. The Tokaimura complex has been the 
scene of several accidents in recent years.  
Almost 70 percent of Japanese say they feel 
insecure about atomic plants because of the 
radiation leaks, fires and official cover ups of 
past incidents. 
 
Officials at the Tokyo-based J-C-O Company that runs 
the plant have refused to comment.

NEB/KA/FC 



30-Sep-1999 04:31 AM EDT (30-Sep-1999 0831 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.