Japanese Nuclear Power Plant Worker Exposed to Radiation While Repairing Radioactive Leak

Paraphrased by:
Steve Waldrop
September 26, 2003

A worker at a nuclear power plant in northern Japan was exposed to a small amount of radiation while repairing a radioactive leak in its cooling system, the plant's operator said.

The worker at the reactor in Japan's Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant was not injured by the exposure. The worker's identity was not disclosed.

The worker was fixing a leak in the primary water cooling system in a reactor at the nuclear power plant. He was immediately treated, and the amount of radiation exposure was believed small enough not to cause any health threat, said a spokesman for Tokyo Electric Power Co.

The Fukushima plant was one of 17 nuclear reactors closed for safety inspections after the company last year admitted to covering up structural problems for a decade ago.

The reactor was reopened recently and was running at a low output. It was to return to full capacity next month.

The mishap was not related to the problems involving the cover-up, according to a spokesman for the power company. About one liter (2.1 pints) of radioactive water leaked from a loosened valve attached to the primary cooling system, and the worker was repairing the problem when exposed to radiation.

The company's nuclear reactors generate about 40 percent of the electricity consumed by Tokyo and several surrounding areas.