Tōkai, Ibaraki
| Tōkai 東海村 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Village | ||
| ||
 | ||
  Tōkai | ||
| Coordinates: 36°28′N 140°34′E / 36.467°N 140.567°ECoordinates: 36°28′N 140°34′E / 36.467°N 140.567°E | ||
| Country | Japan | |
| Region | Kantō | |
| Prefecture | Ibaraki Prefecture | |
| District | Naka | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 37.48 km2 (14.47 sq mi) | |
| Population (1 January 2005) | ||
| • Total | 35,467 | |
| • Density | 950/km2 (2,500/sq mi) | |
| Time zone | Japan Standard Time (UTC+9) | |
| Website | www.vill.tokai.ibaraki.jp | |
Tōkai (東海村 Tōkai-mura) is a village located in Naka District, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. It is approximately 120 km north of Tokyo, Japan on the Pacific coast.
As of 1 January 2005, the village has an estimated population of 35,467 and a population density of 946.29 persons per km². The total area is 37.48 km².
The Japan Atomic Energy Agency along with other organizations currently operate a number of nuclear technology research facilities in the town. In particular, Tōkai Nuclear Power Plant is located in Tōkai.
Aside from nuclear facilities, Tokai has beaches. It is the sister city of Idaho Falls, Idaho, another town associated with nuclear energy.
- 1955 - Muramatsu-mura and Ishigami-mura merged into Tokai-mura
- 1956 - Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute was set up at Tokai-mura
JCO radiation accident
Tokai was the scene of a nuclear criticality accident which occurred at the JCO nuclear reprocessing plant on 30 September 1999, which killed two people.
The accident occurred when seven times the allowable limit of 18.8% enriched uranium dioxide was mixed with nitric acid in order to form uranyl nitrate, and was put in a precipitation tank to homogenize. At 10:35 am, when the seventh bucket (making a total of 16.6 kg of 18.8% enriched uranium) was poured into the precipitation tank by three technicians, a blue flash of radiation occurred and the three technicians felt severe pain, nausea and had trouble breathing. The radiation alarms went off and the three technicians and their supervising technicians immediately left the building.
The criticality was stopped 20 hours later by draining the cooling water jacket around the precipitation tank and filling it with argon, and purging the tank with boric acid. The amount of neptunium and plutonium formed during the event was estimated through radiochemical analysis of the uranium solution from within the tank.[1]
Two of the three technicians irradiated died on 22 December 1999 and 27 April 2000, respectively.
Transportation
Tōkai is served by Tōkai Station which is located on the Jōban Line. There is suburban service to Mito Station and Iwaki Station, as well as service to Ueno Station in Tokyo.
Sister City
Tōkai, Ibaraki has a sister city, as designated by Sister Cities International
-
Idaho Falls, Idaho, United States of America
See also
- Nuclear fuel reprocessing plant
- List of nuclear accidents
References
- ↑ N. Shinohara et al., Radiochimica Acta, 2001, 89, 135-138
External links
Media related to Tōkai, Ibaraki at Wikimedia Commons
- Official website (Japanese)
- Report by the International Atomic Energy Agency on the nuclear accident
- Official timeline of the nuclear accident