Effect of JCO critical accident seen on an opinion poll data

Formation of the first critical accident in Japan at an uranium fuel processing facility (Tokai Works of JCO) on September 30, 1999, gave a large impact to Japanese society. It was made much anxious if this accident largely affected to opinions on nuclear power generation because it was an inexperienced accident which was the worst one in Japan at level 4 of the international nuclear phenomenon evaluation scale, gave some radioactive exposures on human lives, gave, in a large scale, some effects to citizens' lives through requirement of their in-door sheltering, and so forth. Then, in order to understand trends of consciousness on nuclear power, the Research Institute of Nuclear Safety System, Ltd. have carried out five times surveys since 1993 at a center of the Kansai area, to accumulate comparable data. By comparing the surveyed results after two months of the accident with data before it, some objective effect of the JCO accident were tried to elucidate. As a result, it was at first found to reduce safety sense for description on safety security of the nuclear power generation such as increase of accidental anxiety, increase on formation anxiety of large accident like Chernobyl's one, micro amount of radiation, fail safe system, multiple protection, and so forth. On next, it was shown to relate on managing and operating organization of the nuclear power generation such as reduction of images for laborers and managers at the power plants, enforcement on education of employees for expectation of the electric power companies, and so on. And, it was elucidated to change some opinions such as reduction of common feelings on tales and articles on nuclear safety, increase of negative answers on good use of nuclear power generation, reduction of agreement on necessity opinion of the generation, and increase of agreement on its unnecessity opinion. (G.K.)