DATE=10/3/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=JAPAN / NUCLEAR (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-254601
BYLINE=TANYA CLARK
DATELINE=TOKYO
CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO:  Japan's nuclear accident last week may 
have been caused by illegal procedures.  Tanya 
Clark in Tokyo reports the plant operator 
admitted on Sunday that workers at the nuclear 
plant were  not  observing safety standards set 
by government.

TEXT:  J-C-O Corporation, the operator of the 
nuclear plant where the accident occurred, 
admitted that for the past two years workers had 
been using uranium fuel containers that were far 
too small.

Thursday's accident, which took place in the town 
of Tokaimura, about 110 kilometers northeast of 
Tokyo, occurred when workers mixing the uranium 
fuel poured too much fuel into the containers, 
setting off an atomic reaction that continued for 
hours.

At least three plant workers received doses of 
radiation dose that are normally lethal.  Many 
other employees, as well as rescue workers, were 
exposed to lower levels of radiation.  

In the days since the accident, there have also 
been claims the workers performing the re-fueling 
procedure were poorly trained.  These 
possibilities, plus other errors, including a 
slow response to the crisis by the operators and 
bureaucrats, are leading to intense public 
criticism of the plant operators and the 
government.

Japanese prosecutors on Sunday announced the 
creation of a one hundred-person task force to 
investigate the accident. (Signed)
NEB/TC/KL 



03-Oct-1999 09:33 AM EDT (03-Oct-1999 1333 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.