When did the Tokaimura nuclear accident take place?
Q: When did the Tokaimura nuclear accident take place?
A: The accident took place on 30 September 1999.
Q: Where did the accident occur?
A: The accident occurred in a uranium-reprocessing facility in Tokaimura, northeast of Tokyo, Japan.
Q: Who operated the fuel preparation plant where the accident occurred?
A: The fuel preparation plant was operated by JCO.
Q: What was the direct cause of the accident?
A: Workers put a uranyl nitrate solution containing about 16.6 kg of uranium, which exceeded the critical mass, into a precipitation tank that was not designed to dissolve this type of solution and was not designed to prevent such accidents to happen.
Q: What were the consequences of the accident?
A: Three workers were exposed to neutron radiation doses in excess of allowable limits. Two of these workers later died. Many emergency workers and nearby residents were hospitalized and hundreds of thousands of others were forced to remain indoors for 24 hours.
Q: How serious was the Tokaimura nuclear accident?
A: The Tokaimura nuclear accident was a serious nuclear radiation accident.
Q: What kind of facility was the Tokaimura nuclear accident associated with?
A: The Tokaimura nuclear accident was associated with a uranium-reprocessing facility.
