Japanese public sceptical of nuclear safety

Many Japanese are sceptical when it comes to assurances that all is well at nuclear plants – the first of which was built in the 1960s by Britain’s GEC  – following earthquakes.

While the U.S. and the Soviet Union had their own nuclear leak problems with the Three Mile Island accident and the Chernobyl disaster, Japan has suffered several known accidents which have called its safety precautions into question.

In 1981 up to 300 workers were exposed to excessive levels of radiation after a fuel rod rupture at the Tsuruga nuclear plant, while in 1997 there was a reprocessing waste explosion at Tokai.

In August 2004 a steam explosion at the Mihama-3 station killed five workers and an investigation revealed a serious lack of systematic inspection in the country’s nuclear plants.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1365333/Japan-earthquake-tsunami-State-emergency-nuclear-power-plant-crippled.html#ixzz1GLrIVdRj