International news briefs

Issue 

Leaks from Japan N-plant

Radioactive water leaked from the Shikoku Electric Power Company's reactor in Ikata City, western Japan, on June 5. The leak was the latest in a series of nuclear accidents and cover-ups, the worst being the March 11 explosion and fire at the Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corp's reactor which exposed 37 workers to radiation. The company submitted a false report to the government about the accident.

Sweden to phase out N-power

Sweden's parliament on June 11 approved funding for the phase-out of the country's nuclear power stations, beginning in 1998. Two of Sweden's 12 nuclear power plants will be closed in July 1998. Seventeen years ago, Swedes voted in a referendum to eliminate nuclear power by 2010. The minority Social Democrat government's sudden move on the plan is being interpreted as an attempt to gain the support of the greenish Centre Party and Left Party voters in the 1998 general election. Swedish business leaders and some trade unions have condemned the decision to close the plants.

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