Subject: [cwj 99] JCO/Sumitomo Metal Mining To Pay $121M in Compensation
From: Corporate Watch in Japanese <cwj@corpwatch.org>
Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2000 11:07:33 -0700
Seq: 99

Monday September 4 8:44 AM ET
JCO To Pay $121M in Compensation 

TOKYO (AP) - JCO Co., a uranium-processing firm, said Monday it has agreed to
pay a total of $121 million in compensation to settle 6,875 cases stemming
from Japan's worst nuclear accident.

JCO spokesman Katsunori Suzuki said it has yet to settle about 150 other cases
involving the Sept. 30, 1999 accident. He declined to disclose the total
amount sought in the unsettled claims.

In addition to people exposed to radiation, the compensation covers losses
suffered by farms, fisheries and service industries, Suzuki said. He said
the settlement came after negotiations with individuals, groups and
companies over the past eight months.

``We will continue to negotiate with the people concerned, but it will take
quite a long time,'' he said.

The accident at the JCO Co. uranium processing plant in Tokaimura, 70 miles
northeast of Tokyo, killed two workers and exposed hundreds of people
working and living in the area to radiation. Workers violated safety
regulations by mixing nitric acid and enriched uranium in buckets, setting
off an uncontrolled atomic reaction that took hours to
bring under control.

Suzuki said JCO will use $9.5 million in insurance plus funds from its
parent company, Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., to pay the compensation.

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