A Free Field Representation of the Screening Currents of U_q(widehat{sl(3)})

We construct five independent screening currents associated with the $U_q(\widehat{sl(3)})$ quantum current algebra. The screening currents are expressed as exponentials of the eight basic deformed bosonic fields that are required in the quantum analogue of the Wakimoto realization of the current algebra. Four of the screening currents are `simple', in that each one is given as a single exponential field. The fifth is expressed as an infinite sum of exponential fields. For reasons we discuss, we expect that the structure of the screening currents for a general quantum affine algebra will be similar to the $U_q(\widehat{sl(3)})$ case.