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A year on from Japan’s worst nuclear accident, at Tokaimura last October,
Japanese police have arrested six managers from JCO, the company managing the
plant. They’ve been charged with professional negligence that led to two deaths.
The police say normal procedure was bypassed and a uranium solution was not
mixed in a controlled way, leading to a critical fission reaction. At least 439
people were exposed to radiation and two workers died. It has taken a year to
make the arrests because the case was so complex and because guilt or innocence
in the Japanese legal system is usually decided by public prosecutors. Once a
case is brought to trial a conviction is almost certain.