25 Years On, 2 Victims of JCO Criticality Accident Mourned

Tokai, Ibaraki Pref., Sept. 30 (Jiji Press)--Japan on Monday marked the 25th anniversary of a fatal criticality accident that happened at a facility of nuclear fuel processing company JCO Co. in the village of Tokai in the eastern prefecture of Ibaraki.

Some 120 employees and officials of the Tokai municipal government offered a minute of silence for the two JCO workers who died in the nuclear accident.

"We must never forget the accident," Tokai Mayor Osamu Yamada told the municipal staff after the prayer, reminding them that continuous efforts should be made to ensure nuclear safety based on the lessons from the accident.

Yamada called on the Japanese government and power companies to fulfill their accountability, saying, "The understanding and trust among people are not yet sufficient."

Shiho Hashiura, a 32-year-old native of Tokai, who started working for the village government in April this year, said that she was an elementary school student at the time and that she recalled her memory of closing storm shutters after the accident. "I felt that I, as an employee of the village government, have to protect the lives and livelihoods of residents," Hashiura said.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]