Serious Japs got yet another Nuclear Plant Accident Today, HUAT AH!

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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:




https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...ter-bag-breaks

Japan nuclear workers inhale plutonium after bag breaks

Safety and security concerns raised after equipment inspection at research facility just north of Tokyo goes wrong
Oarai Research & Development Center, a nuclear research facility in japan
The nuclear research workers were injured at Japan’s Oarai research and development centre just north of Tokyo. Photograph: AP

Associated Press

Thursday 8 June 2017 03.16 BST
Last modified on Thursday 8 June 2017 13.24 BST

Five workers at a Japanese nuclear facility have been exposed to high levels of radiation after a bag containing plutonium apparently broke during an equipment inspection.

Contamination was found inside the nostrils of three of the five men, a sign they had inhaled radioactive dust, the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) said on Wednesday. All five also had radioactive material on their limbs after removing protective gear and taking a shower.

Agency spokesman Masataka Tanimoto said one of the men had high levels of plutonium exposure in his lungs. The worker, in his 50s, had opened the lid of the container when some of the 300g of plutonium and uranium in the broken bag flew out.
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The incident occurred on Tuesday at the agency’s Oarai research and development centre, a facility for nuclear fuel study that uses plutonium. It lies in Ibaraki prefecture, just north of Tokyo.

The cause of the accident is under investigation, the state-run agency said. It raised nuclear security concerns as well as questions about whether the workers were adequately protected.

Internal exposure creates the greatest concern because of the risk of cancer. The man’s exposure, 22,000 Becquerels, could mean the effect on his lungs may not be immediately life-threatening but would add up over time, and he would need to be regularly monitored, said Makoto Akashi, a doctor at the National Institute of Radiological Sciences, where the workers are being treated.

Shunichi Tanaka, the chairman of the Nuclear Regulation Authority, blamed work routine complacency as a possible cause. Regulators have started investigating possible violations of safety standards at the facility.

JAEA has a poor safety record at another site – Monju, a plutonium-burning fast breeder reactor that it oversees. There was a major accident there in 1995 and has since hardly operated. The government recently decided to close the facility.

Japan’s possession of large plutonium stockpiles, from the country’s spent-fuel recycling program, has faced international criticism. Critics say Japan should stop extracting plutonium, which could be used to develop nuclear weapons.

To reduce the stockpile, Japan plans to burn plutonium in the form of Mox fuel – a mixture of plutonium and uranium – in conventional reactors. But the restarting of halted nuclear plants has proceeded slowly amid persistent anti-nuclear sentiment since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear reactor meltdown caused by a massive earthquake and tsunami.


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