The IAEA Reported There Was No Radioactive Residue
And That Local Agricultural Products Would Have Been Entirely Safe Throughout

On September 30, 1999, a criticality accident occurred in the uranium processing plant of JCO Co., Ltd. in Tokai-mura, Ibaraki pref. As a peer industry of JCO, Japan's power companies have taken very seriously the tragic deaths of two workers in the accident, as well as the fact that local residents were exposed to neutrons. We share both the grief of those who lost loved ones and the concern of those who remain uncertain about their health. We also regret that the local residents still suffer from the impact of the accident even though economic compensation has been proceeding.

To prevent such an accident from ever occurring again, Japan's power companies initiated the Nuclear Safety Network (NSnet) in December 1999. With its mission to disseminate and improve the safety culture of the entire nuclear industry, NSnet has already held six Peer Reviews (mutual evaluation among members). As firms handling nuclear fuel have also organized a global network for safety improvement, the two parties are working together to prevent any recurrences and to restore public trust.

Meanwhile, we have considerable doubts as to the accuracy and fairness of reports about what actually happened at JCO. In a preliminary report published on November 15, 1999, the team of experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) who surveyed the site immediately after the accident reported that there was no residual radioactive material and that local agricultural products would have been entirely safe throughout. After one year elapsed, we wish lots of people take another look at the accident to discover these facts.