6 Ex-Employees Arrested in ’99 Japan Nuclear Accident

Six former executives of a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant were arrested Wednesday for an accident last year that killed two people and exposed hundreds to radiation.

The suspects face charges of negligence resulting in death in the Sept. 30, 1999, accident at the plant about 80 miles northeast of Tokyo, said Isao Yamazaki of the Ibaraki prefectural police. The six men, all former employees of plant operator JCO Co., could be sentenced to as many as five years in prison and fined up to $4,630, Yamazaki said.

The police said the suspects’ negligence regarding safety procedures resulted in the death of two people at the plant in Tokaimura. JCO officials refused to comment directly on the arrests.

The accident, Japan’s worst nuclear disaster, occurred when two workers tried to save time by mixing excessive amounts of uranium in buckets instead of using mechanized tanks. The mix set off a nuclear reaction, exposing the two to fatal doses of radiation. A third worker was hospitalized in critical condition.

Authorities ordered 161 people evacuated from their homes, and 310,000 were advised to stay indoors for 16 hours as a precaution. In all, 439 people were exposed to radiation.

An investigation showed that JCO routinely skipped crucial security steps while reprocessing fuel. In March, the company was stripped of its license to operate the plant.

The company, a subsidiary of Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., also has agreed to pay out $117.2 million in compensation to settle 6,875 cases stemming from the accident.

Police will also seek charges against JCO as a corporate body, Kyodo News Service reported.