nuclear-news

Nuclear worker takes legal action against TEPCO, for radiation negligence

“So I decided I’ve had enough of this unjust treatment. That’s why I decided to come forward,”

Plant worker: Radiation injuries during crisis at Japan nuke plant not mishap, files complaint Fox News,October 31, 2012 Associated Press IWAKI, Japan –  The operator of a Japanese nuclear plant that went into a tsunami-triggered meltdown knew the risks from highly radioactive water at the site but sent in crews without adequate protection or warnings, a worker said in a legal complaint.
The actions by Tokyo Electric Power Co. led to radiation injuries,
said the contract worker, who was with a six-member team working at
the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi plant’s Unit 3 reactor in the early
days of last year’s crisis.
The worker gave a rare public account of what happened at the plant
during the accident. He spoke to The Associated Press on the condition
that he be identified only as Shinichi, his given name.
Shinichi, 46, described a harrowing scene of darkness and fear, wading
with headlamps into a flooded basement through steaming radioactive
water that felt warm even through workers’ boots.
“It was outrageous. We shouldn’t even have been there,” he said.
He said his six-member team was sent to lay electric cables in the
basement of the Unit 3 turbine on March 24, 10 days after its reactor
building exploded, spewing massive amounts of radiation into the
environment. Their mission was to restore power to pumps to inject
cooling water into its overheating spent fuel pool.
Shinichi said TEPCO and its primary subcontractor never warned them
even though water leaks had been found elsewhere at the plant….
Shinichi’s radiation exposure that day alone exceeded half the
government’s annual exposure limit, and he had to stop working on
plant jobs soon afterward.
Out of fear of harassment of his family due to the tendency of some
Japanese to stigmatize those perceived as different or as
troublemakers, Shinichi agreed to speak with the AP and several
Japanese reporters on condition his face not be photographed.
On Tuesday, he filed a complaint with a labor standards office in
Tokyo, asking authorities to confirm TEPCO’s safety violations and
issue improvement orders. He also is seeking penalties — up to six
months in jail or fines of up to 500,000 yen ($6,250) under the
Industrial Safety and Health Act — against the company that supervised
him.
Shinichi’s direct employer — the subcontractor for TEPCO — stopped
calling him for jobs in March, just telling him to stand by. He now
works on radiation decontamination of “hot spots” in Fukushima
prefecture.
“So I decided I’ve had enough of this unjust treatment. That’s why I
decided to come forward,” he said.
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/10/31/plant-worker-radiation-injuries-during-crisis-at-japan-nuke-plant-not-mishap/#ixzz2B0KFSe00

November 1, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Fukushima 2012, Japan, Legal