Reprinted with permission from Stephen Hesse,
The Japan Times Environmental Columnist
Column: Our Planet Earth
July 12, 2001
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?fe20010712sh.htm
OUR PLANET EARTH
Tokai nuke incident still shows afterglow
By STEPHEN HESSE
Hisashi Ouchi died Dec. 21, 1999, less than three months
after he and two colleagues set off a criticality accident
at JCO Co. in the village of Tokai, Ibaraki Prefecture. Masato
Shinohara died seven months later, also a victim of lethal
radiation exposure. The third employee, Yutaka Yokokawa, was
hospitalized for several months then released. He has not
yet fully recovered.
Ouchi, Shinohara and Yokokawa are the most notable victims
of the Tokai accident, but they are not the only ones. Thousands
of others living in and around the village of Tokai and the
town of Naka were affected.
There were other victims as well: Japan's naivete, its national
denial that a nuclear accident could happen here; government
and industry assurances that Japan's nuclear-power industry
is safe; and trust in the nation's corporate and political
leaders.
A May 27 plebescite in Kariwa Village, Niigata Prefecture,
brought this new nuclear reality into high relief. Villagers
were asked whether to allow Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO)
to use mixed uranium-plutonium oxide (MOX) fuel in a local
reactor. Unlike traditional uranium-based fuels, MOX includes
plutonium. Fifty-three percent of Kariwa villagers voted "No,"
rejecting the TEPCO proposal.
The tally was a shock because Kariwa is located in Japan's
nuclear-power heartland. The town hosts seven reactors and
about one in four households derives its principal income
from nuclear power-related employment.
Criticality is a situation "in which a nuclear chain
reaction becomes self-sustaining, [similar to] what occurs
in a nuclear reactor," the late Dr. Jinzaburo Takagi
wrote in his book, "Criticality Accident at Tokai-mura,"
published by the Citizens' Nuclear Information Center, a group
he founded in 1975, and whose executive director he was from
1987-98. The criticality accident at Tokai "was as if
a small, completely 'exposed' nuclear reactor had suddenly
appeared in a conversion building of a nuclear fuel plant,"
explained Takagi, "a facility which does not have a nuclear
reactor on site."
Tokai is located about 110 km northeast of Tokyo. At the
time of the accident, JCO Co. was in the business of "uranium
reconversion," a process in which enriched uranium is
converted into uranium oxide for fabrication into fuel assemblies
used in nuclear power plants. JCO had its manufacturing license
revoked in March 2000; it is now dealing with a criminal case
and compensation claims.
What effects did Japan's worst nuclear-power accident have
on the lives, health, and thoughts of local residents? CNIC
conducted a field survey of residents in Tokai and the neighboring
town of Naka in February 2000.
The results of the survey were released in Japanese last
year, and in English last month. "JCO Criticality Accident
and Local Residents: Damages, Symptoms and Changing Attitudes"
is an informative and readable 48-page report that takes a
close look at the concerns and fears of 946 households, a
sample of the 2,683 homes within a 2-km radius of the accident
site.
Health and safety are primary concerns. Residents voiced
"anxiety over delayed effects from radiation" (54.6
percent of respondents), and fears that "there might
be another nuclear-related accident" (53.9 percent).
One resident said, "I am (concerned) about my children's
health -- whether they can have children even if they get
married, and the possibility of having abnormal children."
Ongoing health problems for some include headaches, weakness,
tiredness and sleeplessness.
Some locals fear the discrimination experienced by the victims
of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. "I am worried," one said,
"that even if there [is] no physical damage, my children
will be discriminated against in the future just because they
lived near the JCO plant . . . and will not be able to get
married."
The survey found that "close to 90 percent of the residents"
hold the former Science and Technology Agency responsible
for the accident and its effects. The agency, which was responsible
for overseeing JCO Co., has since been incorporated into the
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.
Sixty-six percent of the villagers voiced criticism of nuclear
power and were critical of Japan building new nuclear plants.
About half of those interviewed saw their town "co-existing
with the nuclear industry." Skepticism runs deep, however,
and more than 60 percent of local residents felt the construction
of future nuclear-power facilities should be decided by local
referenda.
"The survey [is] extremely valuable for examining the
long-term effects of the accident," says Gaia Hoerner,
translator and editor of the report. "The results speak
for themselves on the effects of the accident, and will greatly
contribute to studies on the risks of nuclear power."
Time will tell what Japan's nuclear-power industry has learned.
In the foreword to the report, Michiaki Furukawa, a nuclear
chemist and professor emeritus at Nagoya University, writes,
"The government recognized the seriousness of the accident
and has been reforming laws and nuclear regulatory bodies
to improve the administration of nuclear matters. However,
the effectiveness of such reforms can only be evaluated after
observing changes over a long period of time. While such reforms
cannot have worsened the conditions at nuclear facilities,
citizens must keep a watchful eye on whether the countermeasures
implemented by the central government are adequate."
In the meantime, the report concludes, the government must
"comprehensively review its energy policy -- with complete
nuclear phaseout as one of the options."
A final thought before you crank up your air conditioner:
Summer is the season for reactor mishaps. According to the
most recent issue of CNIC's English newsletter, "Nuke
Info Tokyo," there were 32 "significant incidents"
at nuclear facilities in Japan last year, including radioactive
leaks. Almost half of those were between June and August,
and two-thirds were within a year of the Tokai criticality
accident.
CNIC is a public-interest information service that provides
information and public education on nuclear power and nuclear
issues. For more information on CNIC e-mail cnic-jp@po.iijnet.or.jp
or visit the Web site at www.cnic.or.jp
Stephen Hesse welcomes questions. and comments at stevehesse@hotmail.com
The Japan Times: July 12, 2001
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