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| NUCLEAR ACCIDENT | |
 October 1, 1999 
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Wary residents of Tokaimura, Japan, received word they could leave their homes, one day after the country's worst nuclear accident in history. The NewsHour updates the situation and fears among residents. -- Posted 2:30 PM ET |
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The three employees remain in intensive care, according to news reports
from Japan. Only one was showing improvement. But residents still fear radiation could still be present -- and are
skeptical about government assurances that all is safe. Most who ventured
out of their homes to this point traveled in car with windows rolled up,
and thousands have visited doctors for testing.
"It's just too scary. You can't trust the government. Just because
they say it's safe doesn't mean it's really safe, does it?" said
Kazuo Hashimoto, a teacher from Hitachi, one of the towns near Tokaimura
where people had been warned to stay indoors. "I don't think I'm
going to feel comfortable being outdoors for a very long time." The plant's spokesman admitted Tokyo's response to the accident was slow.
Police began investigating whether criminal negligence was involved. "Unfortunately we must admit that we were behind in dealing with
this accident," company spokesman Hiromu Nonaka told reporters. "We
admit that in deciding how serious the accident was, our assessment was
inadequate." Workers at the plant mistakenly set off the reaction early Thursday after
putting 35 pounds of uranium into a tank designed to use less than five.
The accident sent a plume of radioactive gas into the air. "We have no words to express our apologies," another plant
spokesman said. "We cannot escape our responsibility." Workers inside the site received radiation up to 4,000 times the level considered safe. Outside the plant, however, estimates are placed at about five times the safe levels. |
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Officials
from the city's uranium processing plant said the leak, which exposed
at least three employees to high doses of radiation, was contained and
safe. Prior to the announcement, government officials advised more than
310,000 people to stay in their homes to prevent exposure and possible
widespread illness. 
"Because
radiation is not visible to the eye, it's all the more frightening,"
said produce vendor Ayako Itsunomiya, whose daughter is pregnant. "I
told her not to go outside." 
