TOKYO, OCT 3: Japan launched an investigation into its worst nuclear accident on Sunday as the troubled uranium plant operator involved in the disaster admitted it had used illegal standards for uranium processing for four years."We set up a special investigation team for the case today, considering the operator is suspected of committing professional negligence that led to injuries," said a spokesman for Ibaraki Police Department. "We suspect the operator violated the nation's nuclear energy facilities law," he said, adding that the police had started questioning managers of JCO Co., which runs the uranium-processing facility in Tokaimura, northeast of Tokyo.The Science and Technology Agency separately raided the firm's headquarters in Tokyo and facilities in Tokaimura late Sunday to seize documents, agency officials s aid. The operator admitted Sunday it used illegal standards, which may have helped trigger last week's accident leaving 49 people exposed to potentially deadly radiation. "Knowing thatthe standards did not meet legal requirements, the firm had operated for some four years," said Hideki Motoki, a spokesman for the operator.The company changed its procedure manual without government approval, allowing workers to move the uranium processed at the plant around in stainless steel containers similar to buckets."But it is not certain whether the violation caused the accident," Motoki told AFP. "We need more time to reach a conclusion as the workers involved in the accident remain in hospital." Experts said although the use of stainless steel containers may not be directly related to the accident, the violation provided an example of the facility's insufficient attention to safety.Akito Arima, head of the Science and Technology Agency, said on Sunday it would upgrade nuclear safety measures, which will take operators' negligence into consideration. "We have to assume a scenario that operators do not follow their operation manual," Akita told a television interview. "We need to review ourstance toward all nuclear facilities and introduce a strict program to train workers," he said.The government's supervision of the nuclear fuel industry is also questioned. The government allowed the operator to install a uranium processing facility in 1993 despite insufficient safety measures for responding to a critical reaction, Kyodo News said, quoting JCO documents.
