See also: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4403750,00.html List of Recent Nuclear Accidents in Japan Monday August 9, 2004 7:16 PM By The Associated Press
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L09553735.htm Reuters CHRONOLOGY-Nuclear accidents worldwide 09 Aug 2004 14:32:55 GMT http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/08/09/1092022409133.html?oneclick=true World's worst nuclear accidents in the past 25 year August 10, 2004 --------- http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1511&ncid=1511&e=13&u= /afp/20040810/wl_afp/japan_nuclear_accident_040810073347 Probe into deadly Japan nuclear accident focuses on lax inspections Tue Aug 10, 3:33 AM ET MIHAMA, Japan (AFP) - The operator of a Japanese nuclear plant admitted to lax safety inspections after a steel pipe which had not been properly inspected for 28 years exploded and killed four workers. Kansai Electric Power Company said the thickness of the pipe, which ruptured and spewed out non-radioactive steam on Monday, was way below minimum safety standards. "We conducted visual inspections, but never made ultrasonic tests, which can measure the thickness of a steel pipe," said spokesman Haruo Nakano. The broken pipe, which was 10 millimetres thick (0.4 inch) when installed in 1976, measured just 1.4 millimetres -- way below the legal minimum safety standard of 4.7 millimetres, he said. "We are responsible" for slack management of plant inspection data, said quality control manager Koji Ebisuzaki. The pipe "showed large-scale corrosion at the area in question," Kansai Electric said separately in a statement. Among the seven also injured in the accident at Mihama, 350 kilometres (220 miles) west of Tokyo, at least one was still in critical condition. The workman, who had 80 percent burns, was unconscious and breathing with a respirator, a Tsuruga Hospital official said. Akira Kokado, the deputy plant manager told reporters that Monday's accident had hurt public confidence in both nuclear power and Kansai Electric. "We hope to restore confidence by probing its cause and reviewing plant inspection procedures and data management," he said. Fukui police said about 100 officers were on the scene gathering evidence for their investigation. Japanese police automatically look into whether there is a case for bringing charges of negligence leading to death when an accident occurs. The government's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency also said its probe would focus on the thickness of the wall of the ruptured water pipe that was connected to a steam turbine. "I think the probe will focus on whether the pipe's rupture was caused by the pipe walls being too thin," said Michio Yamaguchi, an official at the agency's inspection division. "We have not come to a conclusion but it is one of the possibilities," he said. Environmental group Greenpeace issued a statement saying Japan's entire nuclear power program should be abandoned in the wake of the Mihama accident. "Japan should mark this tragic event by closing its nuclear industry down," Greenpeace said. It warned Japan could see more accidents like the one in Mihama as the country's nuclear power plants grow older. "Mihama was 28 years old. Most of the Japanese nuclear power plants will be nearing this age in the next five to 10 years," it said. Japan is the third-largest nuclear power producer after the United States and France. Nuclear power accounts for more than 25 percent of its electricity supply, according to the Paris-based Nuclear Energy Agency. Local papers on Tuesday also demanded a thorough investigation of the accident with the business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun daily saying it dealt a serious blow to public confidence in Japan's nuclear safety. In September 1999 two workers were killed at the Tokaimura uranium fuel-reprocessing plant northeast of Tokyo, regarded as the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Yahoo! Domains - Claim yours for only $14.70 http://us.click.yahoo.com/Z1wmxD/DREIAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
