32,000 workers at Fukushima Daiichi exposed to 5 mSv or more of radiation annually | Seeking a World without Nuclear Power Plants

Original Japanese written by staffer
The English below written and arranged by Heeday, based on the original Japanese
The English edited by Rev. Dr. Henry French, ELCA

Articles from the March 7^th, 2016 editions of the Fukushima Minpo and Akahata newspapers and from the March 9^th edition of the Asahi Shimbun newspaper)

Fukushima Minpo /
Of the workers counteracting the meltdown at TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi, a total of more than 32,000 have been exposed to 5 mSv or more of radiation, as of the end of January 2016, according to a recent finding. 5 mSv is the criterion set up by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare for registering a worker as a victim of work-related leukemia. Anyone can tell that those workers will be exposed to even more radiation in the months to come than workers at other nuclear power plants, since they have highly dangerous jobs to do, such as inspecting the reactors’ insides, carrying used nuclear fuels out of the storage pools, etc. Since 2012, employees of TEPCO’s subsidiaries and subcontractors have been exposed to more radiation than TEPCO’s own employees have. And this gap has been ever expanding. — Fukushima Minpo / Of the workers counteracting the meltdown at TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi, a total of more than 32,000 have been exposed to 5 mSv or more of radiation, as of the end of January 2016, according to a recent finding. 5 mSv is the criterion set up by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare for registering a worker as a victim of work-related leukemia. Anyone can tell that those workers will be exposed to even more radiation in the months to come than workers at other nuclear power plants, since they have highly dangerous jobs to do, such as inspecting the reactors’ insides, carrying used nuclear fuels out of the storage pools, etc. Since 2012, employees of TEPCO’s subsidiaries and subcontractors have been exposed to more radiation than TEPCO’s own employees have. And this gap has been ever expanding.

Akahata /
As of the end of January 2016, 174 workers have exceeded the threshold of 100 mSv in accumulative exposure to radiation. Above this threshold, the person’s cancer-induced mortality rate is believed to rise by 0.5%. The worst-hit worker had 678.8 mSv. In total, 46,490 workers have been exposed to radiation, with their average accumulative exposure at 12.7 mSv. In total, 32,760 workers have been exposed to radiation above 5 mSv annually. In FY2014, when more workers came in to take care of the contaminated cooling water, 6,600 workers reached 5 mSv a year, an increase of 34% from the year before. — Akahata / As of the end of January 2016, 174 workers have exceeded the threshold of 100 mSv in accumulative exposure to radiation. Above this threshold, the person’s cancer-induced mortality rate is believed to rise by 0.5%. The worst-hit worker had 678.8 mSv. In total, 46,490 workers have been exposed to radiation, with their average accumulative exposure at 12.7 mSv. In total, 32,760 workers have been exposed to radiation above 5 mSv annually. In FY2014, when more workers came in to take care of the contaminated cooling water, 6,600 workers reached 5 mSv a year, an increase of 34% from the year before.

Asahi Shimbun /
The UN Scientific Committee, in its report, accepted the assumption that some 40% of Japanese males will have cancer in their lifetimes, and that, applying this 40% probability, some 70 of those 173 workers who had been exposed to 100 mSv or more as of the end of October 2012, will have cancer “for no special reason.” Standing upon these assumptions, the Committee predicts that “in addition to those 70 workers or so, a few other workers will have cancer.” Still, the Committee admits that such predictions are always accompanied by uncertainty and, if a worker develops cancer, it is hard to tell if it is ascribable to radiation or not. — Asahi Shimbun / The UN Scientific Committee, in its report, accepted the assumption that some 40% of Japanese males will have cancer in their lifetimes, and that, applying this 40% probability, some 70 of those 173 workers who had been exposed to 100 mSv or more as of the end of October 2012, will have cancer “for no special reason.” Standing upon these assumptions, the Committee predicts that “in addition to those 70 workers or so, a few other workers will have cancer.” Still, the Committee admits that such predictions are always accompanied by uncertainty and, if a worker develops cancer, it is hard to tell if it is ascribable to radiation or not.

Fukushima Daiichi workers facing fatal risks
Of the workers counteracting the meltdown at TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi, a total of more than 32,000 have been exposed to 5 mSv or more of radiation, as of the end of January 2016, according to a recent finding. 5 mSv is the criterion set up by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare for registering a worker as a victim of work-related leukemia. Anyone can tell that those workers will be exposed to even more radiation in the months to come than workers at other nuclear power plants, since they have highly dangerous jobs to do, such as inspecting the reactors’ insides, carrying used nuclear fuels out of the storage pools, etc. Since 2012, employees of TEPCO’s subsidiaries and subcontractors have been exposed to more radiation than TEPCO’s own employees have. And this gap has been ever expanding.

“Deadly dangerous — you go first”
Yet another fact discovered is that those non-TEPCO workers, who come to Fukushima Daiichi from TEPCO’s subcontractors and subsidiaries, have been exposed to radiation almost 4 times greater than the overall average exposure. Since almost 90% of all the workers are from outside TEPCO, their total exposure dose together reached some 30 times above the average. This is obvious evidence that the power company pushes more dangerous jobs to non-TEPCO workers.

Needed yet mistreated
Ever since Fukushima Daiichi began to melt down, countless workers have come and gone. Especially, in those areas with high radiation, many workers reach their legal limit of accumulative exposure in only three months of work or so and leave the nuclear power plant (NPP). Furthermore, those workers, exposed to all the dangers, are not receiving compensation worthy of their risks. On the average, they receive only JPY 200,000 or so, which is below what some of the decontamination workers outside the NPP receive. Thus, many NPP workers are voicing their dissatisfaction. Now, experts say that decommissioning Fukushima Daiichi will take four decades or so. Where can a sufficient workforce come from to handle 40 years of highly dangerous work?

In conclusion
Fukushima Daiichi is currently cooled and quiet, but only because workers there are risking their health and lives to keep it cooled. All of us must show our gratitude and respect to them.

At the same time, the Japanese government should establish a decent compensation system for all those workers who risk their own health to save the rest of us. Such a compensation system should cover the years following those workers’ retirements as well.

NSKK Support for Victims of the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake