Nuclear Plant Accident Worries Japanese Officials

Paraphrased by
Steve Waldrop
July 7, 2003


An incinerator that overheated at a shuttered nuclear power plant in central Japan spewed smoke into the sky. No injuries and no release of radiation were reported, but the accident did rattle a nation that relies heavily on atomic energy.

It wasn't immediately clear what triggered the accident at the experimental plant near the town of Tsuruga, about 200 miles west of Tokyo. Workers in the plant's control room said they heard an explosion coming from the nuclear complex's incinerator and that the incinerator shut off automatically after it began overheating and smoking.

A spokesman at the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said there was no danger of leaking radiation because the plant had not generated power since its reactors were shut down in March.

The shutdown has raised concerns that heavy electricity use during Japan's hot summer months could mean Tokyo's first major blackouts in 20 years. Nuclear power accounts for about 30 percent of Japan's electricity needs.

Although the accident didn't appear to be serious, it could rekindle doubts about whether Japan's nuclear energy policies are sound.

In March of this year, Tokyo Electric Power Co., which runs a separate network of 17 nuclear power plants in Japan, took its plants off line for emergency inspections ordered by authorities following revelations it covered up structural problems a decade ago. It reopened one plant in May and a second in June, after getting the go-ahead from local authorities.

Takeo Hiranuma the Economy, Trade and Industry Minister for Japan said that his country's utilities companies needs to work harder to ensure that nuclear reactors are safe.

Many Japanese have been nervous about possible nuclear mishaps since 1999, when two workers trying to save time at a reprocessing plant north of Tokyo sent off an uncontrolled nuclear reaction while they were mixing uranium in buckets instead of in mechanized tanks.

The most recent accident appeared to have started when a viewing window on an incinerator duct broke, possibly due to high temperatures or wear, said a plant official who gave reporters a tour of the incinerator control room.

The broken window may have allowed too much air into the incinerator, stirring up ash inside the burning chamber and causing the smoke that triggered the alarm, said the official, who declined to be identified. About 100 people were in the complex at the time.

Authorities are still investigating the cause of the accident.