(521.5109) WISE Amsterdam - On November 8, the governor of Niigata Prefecture, Mr. Hirayama, has decided to ask TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company) to postpone its MOX-burning program at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, the world largest nuclear power plant complex with seven reactors (five Boiling Water Reactors and two Advanced BWRs), with a total output of 8,262 MW. TEPCO plans to start up the MOX burning at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa next year. To the shock of the utility and the pro-nuclear Japanese government, Gov. Hirayama's statement came after his meeting with the mayors of Kashiwazaki City and Kariwa Village, on the border of which the TEPCO nuclear station is sited. The three heads of local government agreed that the Tokai-mura accident had cast a serious doubt on the safety of nuclear power and the people who live in the vicinity of the nuclear power station are very much worried about it.
The Niigata governor and the mayors of the sites local governments will meet TEPCO executives and demand that the socalled "Plu-thermal" project be suspended by one year. They also intend to demand the same on the central government.
TEPCO also plans to start MOX burning at its Fukushima Unit I-3 (784MW BWR) later this year, but there is much criticism against the project. Another MOX burning program at Takahama Unit 4 (870MW PWR) in Fukui prefecture, operated by KEPCO (Kansai Electric Power Company), is about to start, possibly later in November. Environmental organizations and independent researchers, and many of the local residents, claim that the MOX utilization projects are too dangerous and wasteful, and should be mothballed altogether.
The Tokai Criticality Accident Investigation Committee presented on November 4 the results of the analysis of the uranium solution samples obtained from the accident site. According to the calculation by the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI), the first 25 minutes of the criticality, which eventually lasted nearly 18 hours, yielded a total 75mSv exposure at the distance of 80m from ground zero. (This is the minimum distance from the precipitation tank, where the uranium went critical, to the JCO site boundary.) It is estimated that as much as 48% of the total energy emission took place during the first 25 minutes of the criticality.
The cumulative doses for the first five hours (i.e. before the residents were evacuated) are estimated by Science and Technology Agency of the Japanese government (STA) at 110mSV at 80m point, and 1.4mSV at 350 point (neutron plus gamma, roughly at 10:1 proportion). This can mean that almost all the members of the general public around the plant have received a dose above the annual limit (1mSv) before they were evacuated.
On October 26, the three workers exposed to high levels of radiation were approved for compensation under the national workers' accident insurance program. All their medical expenses are to be paid. The program covers only costs, not any damages the workers may receive. It is the first time the Japanese government pays workers' insurance compensation for acute radiation poisoning.
Fifteen of Japan's 17 key nuclear facilities have inadequate health and safety measures, according to a report by the Labor Ministry. The facilities were inspected between October 1 and October 22--just after the accident at Tokaimura. Twenty-five violations of the Health and Safety Law--mostly related to inadequate checks on radiation exposure--were found. Some facilities were not keeping records of individual worker exposure, a legal requirement.
Sources:
- Associated Press, 26 October
- Magpie News, 5 and 8 November 1999
- UI News Briefing, 9 November 1999
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