Tokaimura lab accident affected 30 researchers: agency

There are exhaust fans in a Nuclear Lab? What about the Chemical and Biological Labs? Do they also have exhaust fans?

The proton beam accelerated to 400 times the normal power and vaporized the gold apparently. Four of them inhaled it. 30 people so far were exposed, including female staff, but they haven't yet finished checking everyone. The professor in charged had them switch on the extractor fans to vent the place. Radiation is not normally detected when they do this, but when they checked the monitoring station outside, the evidence was recorded there, from a whole day and a half before. The question is not the amount so much, but why it was vented so casually to the atmosphere and why they did not report the incident until the evidence was presented, far too late? There is some grumbling among the general public, apparently, wanting to know why they should trust this place, according to the vernacular press.

"Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose."

As "nandakandamanda" wrote above: There is some grumbling among the general public, apparently, wanting to know why they should trust this place, according to the vernacular press." From this arises the question: Should the general public trust anyone in this country who is handling/working around radiation facilities? Seems as if there are way too many "accidents" involving the handling/operation of such facilities.

Where are the experts ... you know ... those who actually know what they are doing, and about what is happening?

No filters on the outlet fans, probably no written emergency procedure, probably no laboratory safety officer....

Reminds me on an incident a few months ago at Todai when a researcher burned up a lab after a combustion experiment went wrong, setting off the fuels and inflammable liquids that were stored in the same laboratory room. No-one in charge of safety there.

Heck your in Japan....." What is Safety in Anything It don't exist "......

Might as well replace nuclear 'specialists' with monkeys. Cheaper and the safety levels would be the same.

Incompetence abounds. Suprizing how short memories are amongs the " brightest".

On the news they were saying that the emergency alarms went off but that's fairly commonplace, so everyone just ignored them and went on working!

Sorry folks, but I am anti-nuclear 'otaku'! Really. We really need to move far away from all this nuclear stuff in first place. It is just too dangerous! Shame on Niels Bohr and all these other nuclear 'scientists' (maniacs) who usered in this 'nuclear age' (more like *clear of life age!) Exhaust fans? Were not for this nuclear (or rather nu-unclear) age, we would need to worry about exhaust fans not!*

Ever hear of renewable energy? This must be direction we need to pursue. Then we shan't worry about Tokaimura lab, or any other lab accidents! Please, we need consciousness raising here, chant a new "Odaimoku': "Re new a ble e ner gy, re new a ble e ner gy..." This is what we need now, solar (that is also 'nuclear' but this 'organic reactor' is some 150'000'000 km away from us! It does not ever need refueling or worry what to do with spent 'fuel rods'. It should 'work' nonstop for the next 5 billion years or so. Wind, no nuclear involved here. Geothermal, again renewable. Hydro, good for 'Japanese Alps' reagion and Hakone, uses force from gravity. Tidal, uses force from motion of water in ocean.

Let's close down the 51 or so reactors before we 'react' with disaster! One more disaster like Tohoku-Fukushima, would be just unfathomable! It not only may mean the end of Japan, but end of human life as wel know it here on this finite and fragile planet!

Thank you!

"We don't know why they switched on the fan. We suspect some wrong decisions were made by workers concerned."

Why don't you ask them....? They are still all alive today, correct..?

Had this incident happened in the states, these people investigating this incident, and especially their spokesperson, would all have been fired for incompetence, the minute they made a statement like this... This kind of amateur-isk stuff wouldn't fly in the U.S....

If the radiation was so low why was it a mistake to turn on the fans? somethiung they are not telling us?