What can go wrong will go wrong.
That, critics say, is the basic premise forgotten both by the firm which caused Japan's worst-ever nuclear accident and by authorities tasked with preventing and responding to the crisis.
Lax safety precautions, sloppy company response and tardy notification of authorities in turn unable to respond promptly -- the litany of apparent missteps sounded all too familiar to critics of a nuclear program already plagued by mishaps.
PHOTO: AP
Nuclear experts said JCO Co Ltd, the firm operating the uranium processing plant where the accident occurred, failed at its most fundamental task -- preventing a self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction which releases radioactive energy in an uncontrolled way and dramatically boosts radiation levels.
Even some activists already suspicious of Japan's nuclear power safety said they were shocked by the latest accident.
"They did not observe even the ABCs of a safety policy," said Satoko Tanaka, an executive of the Tokyo Housewives Association active in nuclear safety issues.
"We were worried about nuclear power plant safety and while our attention was on that, we never dreamed something like this could occur at a uranium processing plant," Tanaka said.
Company officials acknow-ledged that workers at the plant, which processes uranium into pellets for use in nuclear power plants, had ignored safety rules set down by the firm itself.
"We are responsible for the accident, since our employees violated company regulations and the incident was deplorable," Kyodo news agency quoted Makoto Morita, chief of the general affairs department of JCO Co, as telling a news conference.
Among the mistakes made was the attempt to process 16kg of uranium -- nearly eight times the normal amount -- thus creating a "critical mass" which sparked a nuclear reaction similar to what occurs in a power plant.
"Whenever we have this type of accident, usually the reason is very simple, very primitive and I guess this was also due to the very primitive mistake of the operators," said Atsuyuki Suzuki, an nuclear expert at the University of Tokyo.
"What we should do is improve the safety system not only at the facility but the regulatory system itself," he said.
Media reports also said JCO, a unit of Sumitomo Metal Mining, told the Science and Technology Agency of the accident about 40 minutes after it occurred and notified both the prefecture and village within an hour.
But Tokaimura and prefectural authorities then apparently took different views of the incident, with the village mayor worried enough to advise people to stay inside while prefectural officials believed there was no health threat, reports said.
Village officials first issued their warning to stay home to residents just under two hours after the accident occurred.
Initial reports that radiation levels were seven to 10 times normal soon jumped to news that levels were 4,000 times normal.
And while officials said on Thursday afternoon that the chain reaction was under control, by evening it appeared that was not the case and the top government spokesman admitted at a late night emergency news conference that it could still be going on.
The spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka, said yesterday that the government had misjudged the seriousness of the incident early on and that its first response was too slow.
"I have no choice but to acknowledge that [the government's response was slow]," Nonaka told reporters. "As a modern nation, it's shameful that this kind of accident occurred."
Anti-nuclear activists echoed the sentiment and said government regulators must share the blame with the firm.
"The central government was also slow," said Hideyuki Ban, co-director of the anti-nuclear group Citizen's Nuclear Information Cen-ter.
"Why? Because they didn't have the correct information so they couldn't respond. Of course the company is responsible, but officials who hand out licenses also share the responsibility," Ban said.
By yesterday afternoon, officials said the nuclear chain reaction had stopped and later that it was safe for people living in the plant's vicinity to go outdoors.
Despite the outcry, some experts said authorities had done the best they could and that the seriousness of the accident should not be exaggerated, given that the levels of exposure to radiation for most people were likely to have been relatively low.
"It seemed confusing, I agree, but I would say that it was sort of an unavoidable situation," the University of Tokyo's Suzuki. "It seemed what the government was doing was the best it could do."
Japan has deployed long-range missiles in a southwestern region near China, the Japanese defense minister said yesterday, at a time when ties with Beijing are at their lowest in recent years. The missiles were installed in Kumamoto in the southern region of Kyushu, as Japan is attempting to shore up its military capacity as China steps up naval activity in the East China Sea. “Standoff defense capabilities enable us to counter the threat of enemy forces attempting to invade our country ... while ensuring the safety of our personnel,” Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. “This is an extremely important initiative for
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) today accepted an invitation from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to lead a delegation to China next month, saying she hopes to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations and bring stability to the Taiwan Strait. “I am grateful and happy to accept this invitation,” Cheng said in a statement from the KMT chairperson’s office. Cheng said she hopes both sides can work together to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations, enhance exchange and cooperation, bring stability to the Taiwan Strait and improve people’s livelihoods. At today's news conference, Cheng said any efforts to
MORE POPULAR: Taiwan Pass sales increased by 59 percent during the first quarter compared with the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said The Tourism Administration yesterday said that it has streamlined the Taiwan Pass, with two versions available for purchase beginning today. The tourism agency has made the pass available to international tourists since 2024, allowing them to access the high-speed rail, Taiwan Railway Corp services, four MRT systems and four Taiwan Tourist Shuttles. Previously, five types of Taiwan Pass were available, but some tourists have said that the offerings were too complicated. The agency said only two types of Taiwan Pass would be available, starting from a three-day pass with the high-speed rail and a three-day pass with Taiwan Railway Corp. The former costs NT$2,800
The nation’s fastest supercomputer, Nano 4 (晶創26), is scheduled to be launched in the third quarter, and would be used to train large language models in finance and national defense sectors, the National Center for High-Performance Computing (NCHC) said. The supercomputer, which would operate at about 86.05 petaflops, is being tested at a new cloud computing center in the Southern Taiwan Science Park in Tainan. The exterior of the server cabinet features chip circuitry patterns overlaid with a map of Taiwan, highlighting the nation’s central position in the semiconductor industry. The center also houses Taiwania 2, Taiwania 3, Forerunner 1 and
RSS