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Not good news for Nuclear Energy

[Harvard99]

Leak at Japan Nuclear Plant Kills Four 7 minutes ago By KOZO MIZOGUCHI, Associated Press Writer TOKYO - A nonradioactive steam leak killed four people and injured seven others Monday in the worst-ever accident at a Japanese nuclear power plant, officials said. One other worker was reportedly in critical condition. The cause was not clear but no radiation escaped the plant and there was no need to evacuate the area around the city of Mihama, about 200 miles west of Tokyo, officials said. Mihama's population is about 11,500. The four died after suffering severe burns, said Takanori Amimoto, at the nearby Fukui state government office. Japanese media reported that another worker was in critical condition, and had suffered heart and lung failure. Takahiro Seno, a spokesman for plant operator Kansai Electric Power, said the plant automatically shut down when steam began spewing from a leak in the turbine building area at the No. 3 nuclear reactor in Mihama. The No. 3 reactor started operations 1976. The Mihama plant's two other reactors were operating normally, officials said. The accident was caused by a lack of cooling water in the turbine, said Kimihito Kawabata, another spokesman for the Kansai Electric Power. The steam was believed to be about 518 degrees Fahrenheit. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi vowed to launch a thorough investigation. "It is unfortunate there were deaths. We must put all our effort into determining the cause of the accident and to ensuring safety," Koizumi told reporters. He added the government would respond "resolutely, after confirming the facts." Monday's was the second fatal accident at a Japanese nuclear plant. The first was in 1999, when a radiation leak at a fuel-reprocessing plant in Tokaimura, northeast of Tokyo, killed two workers and caused the evacuation of thousands of local residents. That accident was caused by two workers who tried to save time by mixing excessive amounts of uranium in buckets instead of using special mechanized tanks. A string of safety problems and attempted cover-ups since has undermined public faith in nuclear energy and left the nuclear program in limbo. The Japanese have grown wary of possible problems at nuclear plants after several major power-generation companies were hit with alleged safety violations at their reactors. Energy-poor Japan relies on nuclear power to supply 30 percent of its electricity. In February, eight workers were exposed to low-level radiation at another power plant when they were accidentally sprayed with contaminated water. The doses were not considered dangerous. The plant workers had turned off a pump to repair a hose used to pump water between pools where spent plutonium rods are kept. Another worker switched the pump on before they reconnected the hose, drenching their faces and safety suits with contaminated water.