Even research labs should make safety a priority

May 27, 2013

Editorial: Strict safety management crucial at nuclear research facilities

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/perspectives/news/20130527p2a00m0na001000c.html

On the heels of revelations of neglected testing at the prototype fast-breeder nuclear reactor Monju, insufficient safety management at another Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) facility has come to light.

JAEA has no rebuttal against those who argue that the organization is not qualified to handle nuclear power. The agency must make fundamental organizational reforms, rebuild and raise safety awareness. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology also bears a heavy responsibility as the organization's governing agency.

On May 23, a malfunction occurred at the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC), jointly operated by JAEA and the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK). During an experiment in which proton beams were aimed at a gold target, the gold overheated and vaporized, causing radioactive materials to be released. While the mishap is said to have posed no public health risk, numerous researchers at the facility were exposed to radiation, and some radioactive materials leaked outside the facility.

The national government and local municipalities should have been alerted to the situation right away. J-PARC, however, initially underestimated the extent of radiation contamination as being limited to a controlled area within expected radiation levels. It therefore delayed a report to the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) until the night of May 24, a day and a half after the incident occurred.

Those overseeing the experiment claim the latest glitch was unforeseen, but if the ongoing crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant has taught us anything, it's the importance of preparing for the unexpected. The handling of the situation by JAEA and KEK, two of the country's key research organizations, has been unacceptable.

Even after the initial malfunction, researchers at J-PARC continued with the experiments, repeatedly rebooting the proton irradiation equipment and turning on a ventilator to reduce radiation levels within the facility. The ventilator was not fitted with a filter, allowing radioactive materials to be released into the atmosphere. Such stopgap measures are evidence that safety has not been made a top priority.

JAEA is an independent administration institution established in 2005 through a merger of the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI) and the Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute (JNC), which specialized in basic research and practical application, respectively. Former JNC projects have been rife with scandals, including a sodium leak at the Monju Nuclear Power Plant and a subsequent cover-up, together with the Tokai Reprocessing Plant accident and its falsified reports. The latest incident took place in the basic research division, however. Did the researchers from the former JAERI assume that they were somehow different from the former JNC contingent?

JAEA President Atsuyuki Suzuki recently resigned after the NRA pointed to a "deterioration of safety culture" at JAEA following its failure to conduct appropriate inspections of Monju, leaving the organization's top post empty. Each and every staff member at JAEA, regardless of the organization they come from, must claim the incidents as their responsibility and make efforts to prevent them from happening again.

Many research facilities in addition to J-PARC handle particle accelerators and radioactive substances. Have sufficient measures been taken against the risks they carry? We urge the organizations and governing agencies to review their preparedness once again.