Japan Now Says 69 Exposed to Radiation in Nuclear Leak

Officials undercounted the number of people exposed to radiation in Japan’s worst nuclear accident, and the new tally is 69, the government said Friday.

The mistake--which overlooked 20 exposed people in the Sept. 30 accident at a uranium-processing facility--only reinforces the image of a nuclear industry plagued by slipshod safety measures.

A report on the accident submitted Friday by the Nuclear Safety Commission said the new exposures were revealed when investigators belatedly checked badges that workers wore to monitor radiation levels.

Also on Friday, JCO Co., the firm that runs the troubled facility, said a small amount of radiation was still leaking from the plant, although it does not pose a health risk to nearby residents.

Last week, JCO said that a ventilator was still spewing radioactive iodine 131 at about twice the safety limit.

The company sealed the opening and turned off the exhaust fan, but the leak was continuing as of Friday, said Science and Technology Agency spokesman Ken Maruoka. Workers were to install a filter to block the leak today, he said.

The accident, which set off an uncontrolled atomic reaction, raised serious doubts about the safety of Japan’s nuclear power policy. An investigation disclosed that workers at the facility in Tokaimura, in northeastern Japan, routinely violated safety procedures, using buckets to mix the uranium.

Previously, the government had given the number of those exposed to radiation as 49, including seven people working near the site and three firefighters who rescued the three most seriously injured workers.