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Taiwan: Typhoon Danas Batters Southern Region, Leaving Widespread Damage 3

Typhoon Danas made landfall near Chiayi's Budai Township around 11:40 p.m. on Sunday, July 6, bringing gusty winds and heavy rainfall to the southern region. Typhoon Danas weakened to a tropical storm after its eye departed Taiwan early Monday.

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JCO, 6 employees found guilty over fatal nuke accident

MITO, Japan - Tomoyuki Inami (L), president of JCO Co., speaks at a press conference at the Mito District Court on March 3 after the local court found the company and six of its employees guilty of neglect leading to the deaths of two JCO workers in Japan's worst nuclear accident at its plant in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture, in 1999.

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6 JCO officials plead guilty to negligence charges

MITO, Japan - Kenzo Koshijima (R), the former head of JCO Co.'s uranium processing plant in Tokaimura, enters the Mito District Court in Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture, on April 23. Koshijima and five other JCO employees pleaded guilty to charges of negligence resulting in death in Japan's worst nuclear accident in 1999 during the first hearing of their cases. Two of the workers -- Hisashi Ouchi, 35, and Masato Shinohara, 40 -- died from radiation sickness in December 1999 and April last year, respectively.

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Tokaimura nuclear fuel reprocessing plant reopens

MITO, Japan - Photo shows the chief of a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture, giving instructions to its employees on Nov. 20. The plant, which was closed after a fire and explosion in March 1997, resumed operations earlier in the day. Workers at the plant of the state-run Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute began reprocessing uranium solution taken from a fuel plant of JCO Co., also in Tokaimura.

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Hearing on new nuclear plant faces protest

YAMAGUCHI, Japan - Residents opposing a Chugoku Electric Power Co. plan to build a nuclear power plant in Kaminoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, stop a van carrying supporters of the plan Oct. 31 before the central government held first public hearing on the plan in the town. The hearing is the first of its kind since Japan's worst-ever nuclear accident occurred at a uranium-processing plant run by JCO Co. in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture in September last year.

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Civic group members march in memory of Tokaimura victims

TOKYO, Japan - Antinuclear civic group members march in Tokyo on Sept. 30 in memory of two workers who died after Japan's worst nuclear accident in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture, a year ago. On Sept. 30, 1999, an explosion occurred following a nuclear fission chain reaction at a uranium-processing plant run by JCO Co. in Tokaimura, 120 kilometers northeast of Tokyo. Two plant workers died months later.

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Remaining uranium solution transported from Tokaimura plant

MITO, Japan - An operation to transport uranium solution remaining at the site of Japan's worst nuclear accident in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture, to a nearby nuclear fuel reprocessing plant is completed on April 14. The last four stainless steel containers (C) are carried on a truck from the conversion building at the uranium processing plant operated by JCO Co. to the reprocessing plant of Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute, also in the village of Tokaimura.

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Irradiated nuclear worker moved to different hospital

TOKYO, Japan - A plant worker exposed to an excessive dose of radiation last September in Japan's worst nuclear accident is transferred from the Research Hospital of the University of Tokyo's Institute of Medical Science in Tokyo's Minato Ward to the University of Tokyo Hospital in Bunkyo Ward about 9 kilometers away on April 10 to receive more generalized care. Masato Shinohara, 40, a worker at a uranium-processing plant run by JCO Co. arrived by ambulance at the hospital at around 11:30 a.m. and was carried to the intensive care unit.

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JCO's president Kitani answers reporters

TOKYO, Japan - Hiroharu Kitani, president of JCO Co., answers reporters' questions at the University of Tokyo Hospital on Dec. 22 after JCO worker Hisashi Ouchi died the previous day after suffering massive radiation exposure in Japan's worst nuclear accident in late September. Ouchi's death came 83 days after the accident at the JCO uranium processing plant in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture.

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Ouchi's body brought out of hospital

TOKYO, Japan - The body of Hisashi Ouchi, the JCO Co. worker who died Dec. 21, 83 days after an accident at a uranium processing plant in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture, is brought out of the University of Tokyo Hospital on Dec. 22. Ouchi was exposed to a massive dose of radiation in the late September accident, Japan's worst nuclear disaster.

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Nuclear accident victim in critical condition

TOKYO, Japan - A group of doctors at the University of Tokyo Hospital brief reporters Dec. 20 on the condition of Hisashi Ouchi, who was exposed to radiation while at work in a conversion building at JCO Co.'s uranium processing plant in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture, on Sept. 30. Doctors said 35-year-old Ouchi is in an extremely critical condition and is continuing to deteriorate.

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JCO parent's offices raided over nuclear accident

TOKYO, Japan - Police investigators on Dec. 16 enter the Tokyo head office of Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., the parent company of JCO Co., on suspicion that Sumitomo officials committed professional negligence and violated a law on nuclear facilities in connection with Japan's worst-ever nuclear accident. The Sept. 30 radiation leak in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture, occurred at a plant operated by JCO.

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Tokaimura plant's conversion building inspected

TOKAIMURA, Japan - Members from the Nuclear Safety Commission's investigative committee, wearing protective clothing, on Nov. 23 inspect the JCO Co. uranium fuel processing plant in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture, the site of Japan's worst nuclear accident in late September.

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JCO's president attends lower house meeting

TOKYO, Japan - JCO Co. President Hiroharu Kitani (L) and Kenzo Koshijima (R), head of the company's uranium processing plant in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture, on Oct. 19 attend as witnesses a science and technology committee meeting in the House of Representatives on Japan's worst nuclear accident at the plant on Sept. 30.

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IAEA team examines radiation near nuclear plant

TOKAIMURA, Japan - Experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency on Oct. 15 check radiation at a parking lot in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture, northeast of Tokyo, near the JCO Co. plant where Japan's worst-ever nuclear accident occurred Sept. 30.

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Obuchi inspects nuclear fuel factory

TOKAIMURA, Japan - Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi (C) inspects the nuclear fuel processing factory of JCO Co. in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture, on Oct. 6. Standing to his right is Hirofumi Nakasone, chief of the Science and Technology Agency.

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Police raid JCO facilities over radiation leak

TOKAIMURA, Japan - Police search the nuclear fuel processing factory in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture, of JOC Co. on Oct. 6 in connection with Japan's worst-ever nuclear accident Sept. 30. The search came ahead of Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi's arrival at the plant there.

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Police raid JCO office over nuclear accident

MITO, Japan - Police prepare to raid JCO Co.'s nuclear fuel processing factory in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture, on Oct. 6, after Japan's worst nuclear accident occurred there Sept. 30. Tokyo-based JCO, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., is suspected of professional negligence and violation of nuclear power plant regulations in the production of highly enriched uranium fuel.

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Gov't inspectors enter JCO uranium plant in Tokaimura

TOKAIMURA, Japan - Officials of the Science and Technology Agency enter a uranium-processing plant, run by JCO Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., in the village of Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture, some 120 kilometers northeast of Tokyo, on Oct. 3, to conduct an on-the-spot inspections of the plant, the site of Japan's worst Sept. 30 nuclear accident.

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Sacks piled up to prevent radiation leaks

TOKAIMURA, Japan - Rectangular-shared bags are piled up outside JCO Co.-operated uranium-processing plant on Oct. 3 in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture, where Japan's worst nuclear accident occurred on Sept. 30, to prevent radiation leaks.

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Science agency inspects JCO's head office

TOKYO, Japan - Officials of the Science and Technology Agency enter the head office in Tokyo of JCO Co., an operator of an uranium processing plant, which triggered Japan's worst-ever nuclear accident, on Oct. 3, for the inspections to probe the cause of the Sept. 30 accident, in which at least 49 people were exposed to radiation leaked from the plant in the village of Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture.

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JCO president apologizes Tokaimura residents

TOKAIMURA, Japan - Hiroharu Kitani, president of JOC Co., operators of the uranium processing plant in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture, scene of a major radiation leakage on Sept. 30, kneels in apology Oct. 2 morning at a community evacuation center in the village before Tokaimura residents who were forced to flee their homes after the contamination.

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3 hit by radiation in fire at Tokaimura nuclear plant

TOKAIMURA, Japan - Photo shows the nuclear fuel-related complex of JCO Co., in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture, where three workers were exposed to radiation after a fire broke out Sept. 30. The picture was taken after the fire was brought under control.

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JCO begins dismantling 1999 nuke accident site facilities

MITO, Japan - JCO Co. began June 6 dismantling its nuclear fuel-processing facilities in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture, where Japan's first critical-state accident occurred on Sept. 30, 1999. The accident killed two JCO workers and exposed hundreds of people to radiation. Photo was provided by JCO. (Kyodo)

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Police arrest former JCO execs over nuclear accident

MITO, Japan - Kenzo Koshijima, former head of JCO Co.'s uranium-processing plant in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture, is among six former executives and current employees of the company who were arrested Oct. 11 on suspicion of negligence resulting in death in Japan's worst-ever nuclear power accident last year at the plant. Two plant workers who were exposed to massive radiation in the accident subsequently died from radiation sickness.

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Civic group members march in memory of Tokaimura victims

TOKYO, Japan - Antinuclear civic group members march in Tokyo on Sept. 30 in memory of two workers who died after Japan's worst nuclear accident in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture, a year ago. On Sept. 30, 1999, an explosion occurred following a nuclear fission chain reaction at a uranium-processing plant run by JCO Co. in Tokaimura, 120 kilometers northeast of Tokyo. Two plant workers died months later.

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6 JCO officials plead guilty to negligence charges

MITO, Japan - Kenzo Koshijima (R), the former head of JCO Co.'s uranium processing plant in Tokaimura, enters the Mito District Court in Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture, on April 23. Koshijima and five other JCO employees pleaded guilty to charges of negligence resulting in death in Japan's worst nuclear accident in 1999 during the first hearing of their cases. Two of the workers -- Hisashi Ouchi, 35, and Masato Shinohara, 40 -- died from radiation sickness in December 1999 and April last year, respectively.

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JCO, 6 employees found guilty over fatal nuke accident

MITO, Japan - Tomoyuki Inami (L), president of JCO Co., speaks at a press conference at the Mito District Court on March 3 after the local court found the company and six of its employees guilty of neglect leading to the deaths of two JOC workers in Japan's worst nuclear accident at its plant in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture, in 1999. (Kyodo)

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Tokaimura nuclear fuel reprocessing plant reopens

MITO, Japan - Photo shows the chief of a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture, giving instructions to its employees on Nov. 20. The plant, which was closed after a fire and explosion in March 1997, resumed operations earlier in the day. Workers at the plant of the state-run Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute began reprocessing uranium solution taken from a fuel plant of JCO Co., also in Tokaimura.

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Hearing on new nuclear plant faces protest

YAMAGUCHI, Japan - Residents opposing a Chugoku Electric Power Co. plan to build a nuclear power plant in Kaminoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, stop a van carrying supporters of the plan Oct. 31 before the central government held first public hearing on the plan in the town. The hearing is the first of its kind since Japan's worst-ever nuclear accident occurred at a uranium-processing plant run by JCO Co. in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture in September last year.

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Former JCO execs arrested over nuclear accident

MITO, Japan - Hiromasa Kato, former chief of the production department of JCO Co.'s uranium-processing plant in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture, is among six former executives and current employees of the company who were arrested Oct. 11 on suspicion of negligence resulting in death in Japan's worst-ever nuclear power accident last year at the plant.

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Remaining uranium solution transported from Tokaimura plant+

MITO, Japan - An operation to transport uranium solution remaining at the site of Japan's worst nuclear accident in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture, to a nearby nuclear fuel reprocessing plant is completed on April 14. The last four stainless steel containers (C) are carried on a truck from the conversion building at the uranium processing plant operated by JCO Co. to the reprocessing plant of Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute, also in the village of Tokaimura.

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Irradiated nuclear worker moved to different hospital

TOKYO, Japan - A plant worker exposed to an excessive dose of radiation last September in Japan's worst nuclear accident is transferred from the Research Hospital of the University of Tokyo's Institute of Medical Science in Tokyo's Minato Ward to the University of Tokyo Hospital in Bunkyo Ward about 9 kilometers away on April 10 to receive more generalized care. Masato Shinohara, 40, a worker at a uranium-processing plant run by JCO Co. arrived by ambulance at the hospital at around 11:30 a.m. and was carried to the intensive care unit.

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Science agency revokes JCO's business license

TOKYO, Japan - Hiroharu Kitani (L), president of JCO Co., the operator of the closed Tokaimura uranium processing plant in Ibaraki Prefecture, receives official notification on March 28 that the Science and Technology Agency is canceling the firm's business license. The notice, presented by Kaoru Mamiya, director general of the agency's Nuclear Safety Bureau, said JCO was responsible for Japan's worst nuclear accident at its uranium-processing plant in Tokaimura last September.

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JCO head to resign to take responsibility for accident

MITO, Japan - Hiroharu Kitani, president of JCO Co., the operator of the closed Tokaimura uranium processing plant in Ibaraki Prefecture, tells a press conference on Feb. 25 in Mito, the prefecture capital, that he is planning to resign to take responsibility for Japan's worst nuclear accident in September. The accident killed a JCO worker and exposed several dozen others to radiation.

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JCO summoned to hearing on nuke accident

TOKYO, Japan - Kenkichi Hirose, director general of the Science and Technology Agency's Nuclear Safety Policy Division, on Feb. 3 hands a notice to Makoto Ujihara, chief of the Tokyo office of JCO Co., summoning the operator of a uranium-processing plant in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture, to a public hearing March 13 on Japan's worst nuclear accident. The agency said it plans to cancel JCO's business license.

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Police inspect JCO conversion test building in Tokaimura

MITO, Japan - Photo shows the conversion test building of JCO Co.'s uranium-processing plant in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture, where local police conducted on-the-spot inspections Jan. 18. The building was the site of Japan's worst nuclear accident last September.

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Worker exposed to radiation in nuclear accident dies

TOKYO, Japan - File photo shows Hisashi Ouchi, 35, who died late at night Dec. 21 after being exposed to a massive dosage of radiation in Japan's worst nuclear accident in September. His death came at a Tokyo hospital 83 days after the Sept. 30 accident at a nuclear fuel plant run by JCO Co. in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture.

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Ouchi's body brought out of hospital

TOKYO, Japan - The body of Hisashi Ouchi, the JCO Co. worker who died Dec. 21, 83 days after an accident at a uranium processing plant in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture, is brought out of the University of Tokyo Hospital on Dec. 22. Ouchi was exposed to a massive dose of radiation in the late September accident, Japan's worst nuclear disaster.

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JCO's president Kitani answers reporters

TOKYO, Japan - Hiroharu Kitani, president of JCO Co., answers reporters' questions at the University of Tokyo Hospital on Dec. 22 after JCO worker Hisashi Ouchi died the previous day after suffering massive radiation exposure in Japan's worst nuclear accident in late September. Ouchi's death came 83 days after the accident at the JCO uranium processing plant in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture.

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Nuclear accident victim in critical condition

TOKYO, Japan - A group of doctors at the University of Tokyo Hospital brief reporters Dec. 20 on the condition of Hisashi Ouchi, who was exposed to radiation while at work in a conversion building at JCO Co.'s uranium processing plant in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture, on Sept. 30. Doctors said 35-year-old Ouchi is in an extremely critical condition and is continuing to deteriorate.

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JCO parent's offices raided over nuclear accident

TOKYO, Japan - Police investigators on Dec. 16 enter the Tokyo head office of Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., the parent company of JCO Co., on suspicion that Sumitomo officials committed professional negligence and violated a law on nuclear facilities in connection with Japan's worst-ever nuclear accident. The Sept. 30 radiation leak in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture, occurred at a plant operated by JCO.

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JCO workers start cleaning up radioactive mess

MITO, Japan - Workers at JCO Co., the company that caused Japan's worst nuclear accident in Ibaraki Prefecture in late September, begin collecting residual uranium solution at the accident site. The workers wearing protective suits entered the conversion building at the uranium processing plant in Tokaimura to collect the radioactive solution from a hose. The photo was taken from video screens provided by the company.

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Tokaimura plant's conversion building inspected

TOKAIMURA, Japan - Members from the Nuclear Safety Commission's investigative committee, wearing protective clothing, on Nov. 23 inspect the JCO Co. uranium fuel processing plant in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture, the site of Japan's worst nuclear accident in late September.

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JCO's president attends lower house meeting

TOKYO, Japan - JCO Co. President Hiroharu Kitani (L) and Kenzo Koshijima (R), head of the company's uranium processing plant in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture, on Oct. 19 attend as witnesses a science and technology committee meeting in the House of Representatives on Japan's worst nuclear accident at the plant on Sept. 30.

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JCO staff enter Tokaimura plant to measure radiation level

MITO, Japan - Employees of JCO Co., operator of the nuclear fuel processing plant in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture where Japan's worst nuclear accident occurred on Sept. 30, measure the level of radiation in the plant on Oct. 18. The JCO staff entered the factory for the first time since the accident was officially declared over Oct. 1. The photo was provided by JCO.

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IAEA team examines radiation near nuclear plant

TOKAIMURA, Japan - Experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency on Oct. 15 check radiation at a parking lot in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture, northeast of Tokyo, near the JCO Co. plant where Japan's worst-ever nuclear accident occurred Sept. 30.

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Police raid JCO office over nuclear accident

MITO, Japan - Police prepare to raid JCO Co.'s nuclear fuel processing factory in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture, on Oct. 6, after Japan's worst nuclear accident occurred there Sept. 30. Tokyo-based JCO, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., is suspected of professional negligence and violation of nuclear power plant regulations in the production of highly enriched uranium fuel.

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Obuchi inspects nuclear fuel factory

TOKAIMURA, Japan - Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi (C) inspects the nuclear fuel processing factory of JCO Co. in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture, on Oct. 6. Standing to his right is Hirofumi Nakasone, chief of the Science and Technology Agency.

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Science agency inspects JCO's head office

TOKYO, Japan - Officials of the Science and Technology Agency enter the head office in Tokyo of JCO Co., an operator of an uranium processing plant, which triggered Japan's worst-ever nuclear accident, on Oct. 3, for the inspections to probe the cause of the Sept. 30 accident, in which at least 49 people were exposed to radiation leaked from the plant in the village of Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture.