Word: tokaimura
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Regardless of its scope, an accident that can be classified as nuclear--like the one at the JCO uranium-processing plant at Tokaimura, not far from Tokyo [WORLD, Oct. 11]--seems to get wide media coverage. This event, though certainly serious, was on par with other industrial accidents that occur with some frequency and generally get only local attention. Unfortunately, workers are regularly killed and injured in chemical plants, refineries and manufacturing facilities, occasionally with some release of a hazardous chemical...
...rain and slept with my windows open. I know many people who did the same on the night of the accident because of the lack of information. Now I must see the young students I teach line up to get checked for radiation. I hope the citizens in Tokaimura and the surrounding areas will take an active role in making sure a life-threatening nuclear accident like this doesn't happen again. NAOMI COOK Kanasago, Japan...
...blunder--that local authorities evacuated 160 residents to a community center. There, technicians in gray jump suits scanned bodies with wands to measure radioactive exposure. Chieko Kawano was told she shouldn't use her well water. "It's too late, you know," she replied. Later that evening loudspeakers in Tokaimura and eight nearby towns advised more than 300,000 people to stay inside, close their doors and seal their windows. "When we have more information, we will tell you," the announcer said. For the next 12 hours, there was nothing...
...prefecture, operators gave 90 visitors a tour outside the plant, even though they hadn't found the source of the leak and didn't know the extent of the damage. Videotapes of another plant accident were tampered with by a plant official. In 1997 managers at another plant in Tokaimura tried to cover up an explosion that left 37 workers contaminated by radiation. The revelation prompted then Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto to declare, "I am so angry, I cannot utter a word." But his apoplexy effected little change...
...Tokaimura last week, many residents soon shrugged it all off as a temporary inconvenience. But some worried. Satomi Akutsu, six months pregnant, waited as technicians checked her for radiation exposure. She was safe, for now. "I didn't know that this kind of factory was even here," she said. "I'm relieved we're O.K. But I want to move out of this place." The question was, to where...