Subject: [DOEWatch] Japanese Staff Arrested Over Nuclear Accident, Is The same Possible Here???
Date: Thu, 12 Oct 2000 19:05:22 -0400

Friends,

    Maybe we can have nuclear officials held accountable here in the USA & throughout the world as the Japanese have justly done [see below]. In particular, since there are NO SAFE LEVELS of radiation: http://www.geocities.com/mothersalert/gofman.html , operation of ANY  nuclear facility in my view, is criminal and warrants arrests, accident[s] or not.

    Another example of this nuclear criminality and the killing of innocents it has resulted in is:
http://www.geocities.com/mothersalert/infant.html   and, INCREDIBLY  http://www.geocities.com/mothersalert/victims.html

    Lastly,former President Jimmy Carter and many high ranking NRC, DOE and EPA officials should, in my view, be arrested because of their crimes as the following 2 signed, notorized statements reveal:

1. http://www.geocities.com/mothersalert/rickover.html
2. http://www.geocities.com/mothersalert/bertell.html

Any feedback and/or discussion of this topic is welcomed.

     -Bill Smirnow

MITO, Ibaraki Pref. (Kyodo) Police on Wednesday arrested six former executives and current employees of JCO Co. on suspicion of professional negligence resulting in death in connection with the nation's worst- ever nuclear power accident last year in Tokai, Ibaraki Prefecture.

Those arrested included Kenzo Koshijima, 54, head of the plant at the time of the accident; Hiromasa Kato, 61, then chief of the production department; and Yutaka Yokokawa, 55, who was exposed to radiation in the accident along with two other workers who later died--Hisashi Ouchi and Masato Shinohara.

The six have reportedly admitted the police charges brought against them.

Police suspect that systematic violations at JCO--such as inadequate safety training and illegal operations--were to blame for the accident, which occurred at the firm's nuclear fuel processing plant in the village of Tokai, some 120 km northeast of Tokyo, on Sept. 30, 1999.

Police said that on the day of the accident, Ouchi and Shinohara bypassed normal procedures by using buckets to transfer uranium when producing a uranium solution.

They poured an excessive amount of uranium from the buckets into a tank not designed to hold the substance, the police investigation indicates.

Ouchi, 35, died in December while Shinohara, 40, died in April.

Police believe that JCO executives and employees in the production department were aware of the danger of the illegal operations but did not provide the necessary safety instructions, the sources said.

The Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. subsidiary reportedly started taking the shortcuts in 1993, and in 1996 compiled an unofficial manual that suggested using buckets to make uranium solution. The manual was used thereafter as if it were an officially authorized manual, according to the investigation.

JCO did not seek or obtain approval to change the production method, as is required by law, the sources said.

The arrests mark the end of the Ibaraki Prefectural Police investigation, which began three days after the accident.

At least 439 people, including 207 Tokai residents, were exposed to radiation as a result of the accident.

THE JAPAN TIMES: OCT. 12, 2000

TOKYO (AP)--Six former top officials of a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant were arrested Wednesday for an accident last year that killed two people and exposed hundreds to radiation.

The suspects face charges of negligence resulting in death in the Sept. 30, 1999 accident at the plant 70 miles northeast of Tokyo, said Isao Yamazaki of the Ibaraki Prefectural Police. The six men -- all former employees of plant operator JCO Co.--could get up to five years in prison or $4,630 in fines, Yamazaki said.

The police said in a statement that the suspects' negligence of safety procedures resulted in the death of two people. JCO officials refused to comment directly on the arrests.

The accident--the worst nuclear disaster ever in Japan - occurred when two workers tried to save time by mixing excessive amounts of uranium in buckets instead of using special mechanized tanks. The mix set off an uncontrolled nuclear reaction, exposing the two to fatal doses of radiation. A third worker was hospitalized in critical condition.

Authorities ordered 161 people evacuated from their homes, and another 310,000 were advised to stay indoors for 18 hours as a precaution. In all, 439 people were exposed to radiation.

An investigation into the accident showed JCO routinely skipped crucial security steps while reprocessing fuel. The company was stripped of its license to operate the processing plant in March.

The company has also agreed to pay out $117.2 million in compensation to settle 6,875 cases stemming from the accident.