Clinton Orders Nuclear Site Checks

WASHINGTON — President Clinton on Friday said he had ordered a safety review of U.S. nuclear installations following an accident at a Japanese nuclear fuel plant in which at least 49 people were exposed to radiation, some at potentially lethal levels.

“I thought that we ought to have all of our people learn everything we could about what happened there, analyze our systems here and make sure we’ve done everything we can to protect ourselves,” Clinton said.

“There was a pretty good level of confidence that we had done that . . . but I think that when something like this happens, we realize we live in a world where perfection eludes us,” Clinton said.

White House Press Secretary Joe Lockhart said Energy Secretary Bill Richardson, the National Security Council and the Pentagon were asked to take part in the review.

Clinton met reporters after speaking by telephone with Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi about the accident at a uranium processing plant in Tokaimura.

Obuchi “thanked me for the outpouring of support from the United States,” Clinton said.

“Over the last day, we’ve been providing information to Japan on our experiences in dealing with similar incidents in the United States and making available our experts.”