nuclear-news

Secrecy and poor radiation monitoring in Japan’s, (and France’s) nuclear industry

Faced with an ongoing radioactivity which is contaminating Japan’s food and water supply, what should be done? The Nuclear Mafia’s ethos is silken sewn into the socio-political Kabuki theater of a post modern Japanese society, which seems helpless to save itself. Maybe Ambassador Matsumura, with his international political connections of good will, and the Skilled Veterans for Fukushima would be good people to turn to for advice. 

The Nuclear Mafia Derails Democracy in Japan Dissident Voice, by Richard Wilcox / August 31st, 2012 “….The Nuclear Workforce French sociologist, Paul Jobin, “began research on Japanese and Taiwanese nuclear plant workers in 2002, mainly at Fukushima Daiichi,” and he did follow up interviews after the Fukushima disaster in 2011.

Jobin notes that:

* Subcontracting labor at nuclear plants in Japan began shortly after their creation, in the mid-1970s. “In France, this trend would develop after 1988, reaching a rate of 80% by 1992.”

* “According to NISA’s data, in 2009, Japan’s nuclear industry recruited more than 80,000 contract workers against 10,000 regular employees.”

* Part time employment is carried out in order to limit labor costs “whether in France or Japan, the nuclear industry nurtures a heavy culture of secrecy concerning the number of irradiated workers.”

* Before the Fukushima disaster, “only 9 former workers received compensation for an occupational cancer linked to their intervention in nuclear plants.” This number is probably far lower than the real number of those who suffered from working at NPPs.

* “[S]tatistics from TEPCO (dated November 30, 2011) reported 3,745 workers on the site in March (about 1700 TEPCO employees and 2,000 subcontractors), and 14,000 for the time from April to October. The overwhelming majority … were subcontractors.” But even these figures may not include many low level but highly irradiated workers.

* Radiation exposure depends on one’s status in the hierarchy. Tepco executives and high or mid level engineers are spared exposure, while “there is systematic camouflage of the collective radiation of the most exposed front line workers.”

* Since March 11, 2011, Jobin estimates “that around 30,000 workers have been exposed to significant levels of radiation, some for a few days, many for more than one month.” How many of these workers are desperate or “mentally handicapped” to begin with? No wonder they are being used by the Nuclear Mafia as disposable work-bots. Hiroaki Koide, nuclear reactor specialist at Kyoto University says “[t]he truth of the matter is that the subcontract workers don’t really know the dangers of radiation and they don’t know how to protect themselves.” For example, wearing protective masks are so uncomfortable that many workers remove them during their work shift. How many health issues have been caused as a direct result of the work? In one case, the worker had been exposed in less than a year to levels far beyond what is considered normal lifetime background radiation. He suffered a heart attack.

“….Worker Rights Advocates Fight For Social Justice

Hifumi Okunuki is an expert in labor law and spends much of her time fighting for the rights of Fukushima’s forgotten heroes. She notes that “the working conditions at Fukushima No. 1 are an emergency within an emergency” and that “special laws should be promulgated to guarantee the safety and fair treatment of the workers.”

Japan’s Labor Standards Office has thus far recognized only 10 cases of radiation sickness caused by working conditions due to the inherent difficulty in proving causation in individual cases …. Management faces quite serious, possibly criminal, liability if while understanding the risk radiation exposure poses, they endanger those working on-site through a complicated web of outsourcing. Article 87 of the Labor Standards Law holds firms that outsource responsible for workplace safety and sanitation for workers employed by their subcontractor …. Illnesses caused by radiation exposure from nuclear power plants are covered by Japan’s Act on Compensation for Nuclear Damage.

Unsurprisingly, the Japanese justice system which plays an integral role insiding with the Nuclear Mafia has “yet to see a major court case over radiation-related deaths.”

A new report from the venerable non governmental organization, Citizens Nuclear Information Center (CNIC), in Tokyo, highlights the FNPP worker issue. One whistle blower reported that in years past:

“Worker accidents are usually covered up inside the nuclear plant. Even if workers suddenly fall ill, they are not allowed to call an ambulance. In my case, after having been left unattended for three hours, I was taken to hospital in a colleague’s car. I therefore suffered aftereffects later and became physically handicapped. Of all accidents occurring in the nuclear power station, 90% were concealed.”

However, thanks to growing international attention, some of the conditions at FNPP have slightly improved. “Currently, ambulances are allowed to come into the nuclear power station and there is a doctor onsite 24 hrs a day….

Conclusion

Faced with an ongoing radioactivity which is contaminating Japan’s food and water supply, what should be done? The Nuclear Mafia’s ethos is silken sewn into the socio-political Kabuki theater of a post modern Japanese society, which seems helpless to save itself. Maybe Ambassador Matsumura, with his international political connections of good will, and the Skilled Veterans for Fukushima would be good people to turn to for advice. http://dissidentvoice.org/2012/08/the-nuclear-mafia-derails-democracy-in-japan/

September 1, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | employment, Japan