Up to 12 Nuclear workers
have already died from radiation poisoning the others face
radiation limits, but fight on
by Staff Writers
Kitakami, Japan (AFP) April 14, 2011
The thinning ranks of men struggling to tame Japan's nuclear
emergency are invoking the spirit of the samurai as they ignore
personal radiation limits in their battle to avert disaster. Up to
12 workers have already died from radiation exposure and the rest
will soon follow.
Some are so determined to push on with a task they see as vital to
saving Japan they are leaving their dosimetres at home so bosses
do not know the true level of their exposure to radiation at the
crippled plant.
As Japan declared the Fukushima Daiichi disaster a level seven
emergency -- the worst on an international scale -- engineer
Hiroyuki Kohno was heading back into the leaking plant, fully
aware that one day it could make him very ill.
"My boss phoned me three days ago. He told me: 'The situation over
there is much worse than what the media are reporting. It is
beyond our imagination. But, will you still come?'," he told AFP.
"It was just that. We didn't need to say anything more because we
both knew that the situation is really dreadful," the soft-spoken
Kohno said, leaving lengthy pauses between his sentences.
The two did not discuss financial reward or compensation for the
possible long-term health risks, which could include cancer.
"It's not even about money any more," he said.
Fukushima Daiichi was swamped by the ferocious tsunami that hit
Japan's northeast coast after the 9.0 magnitude earthquake of
March 11.
The tsunami left almost 13,500 dead and 15,000 missing. Tens of
thousands more were made homeless.
Reactor cooling systems were knocked out, allowing their atomic
cores to heat up uncontrollably and sparking a nuclear emergency
now classified as on a par with the Chernobyl disaster a
quarter-century ago.
Subcontractor Kohno said he will be assigned to the plant's
headquarters located in a quake-resistant tower, where he will be
exposed to the same amount of radiation every hour that ordinary
people experience in a whole year.
Emergency work ranges from removing massive amounts of radioactive
water to clearing contaminated rubble, measuring radiation levels
and hooking up power cables to kick-start cooling.
Fukishima Daiichi could be the last posting for Kohno in a
professional life spent entirely in the nuclear industry.
The 44-year-old has already done one long stint at the plant and
is going back to Japan's nuclear ground zero even as a friend of
his reaches the outer limits of lifetime radiation exposure.
His friend, an employee of operator Tokyo Electric Power Co
(TEPCO), says his dosimetre is showing "close to" 250
millisieverts -- 250 times what an ordinary person is exposed to
in a year.
Exceeding that level in the course of work is illegal in Japan and
a plant worker who reaches the limit will be relieved of his
duties for life.
The level is five times that allowed for plant workers in the US
and 12 times that for France.
"My friend told me: 'I can't do this any more. I've reached my
limit. I'm so sorry you have to come, but I can't do any more',"
Kohno said.
His friend talks of colleagues who have taken off their
dosimetres, the machines that measure exposure to radiation and
which will alert officials when cumulative levels are breached.
"They're doing it out of responsibility. And because there are
fewer people who want to return after working at such a
frightening place," said Kohno.
"If there are no workers, this disaster will never end."
As he drove from his parents' home after bidding them farewell,
Kohno said he had tried not to "dwell too much on what is waiting
for me".
"I've accepted the risks, so I'm going. It's about commitment," he
said.
"When I was in elementary school doing (the Japanese martial art)
kendo, there was always a phrase we used -- 'Keeping one's cool'.
"That must be a samurai's frame of mind," he said.