JAPAN’s Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation (DONEN) is
facing a review that could lead to its abolition.
The review follows the revelation that false information was included in a
DONEN report detailing its actions last month after a fire broke out at the
Tokaimura waste reprocessing plant east of Tokyo (This Week, 22 March, p 5). The
report wrongly stated that the fire had been quickly extinguished.
A panel commissioned by the government will examine all DONEN’s activities.
The signs are that the review will be tough. Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto
told reporters: “I don’t even want to hear the word DONEN.”
