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Crisis developing as shortage of Fukushima clean-up workers gets worse

Fukushima-reactor-6

“We’re headed toward a real crisis “

Under the worst scenario, experienced workers capable of supervising the work will be gone as they reach their radiation-exposure limits

Stricken nuke plant struggles on, Yahoo 7 Finance, AAP  Jun 10, 2013 Keeping the meltdown-stricken Fukushima nuclear plant in north-eastern Japan in stable condition requires a cast of thousands.

Increasingly the plant’s operator is struggling to find enough workers, a trend that many expect to worsen and hamper progress in the decades-long effort to safely decommission it.

Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO), the utility that runs the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant that melted down in March 2011 after being hit by a tsunami, is finding that it can barely meet the headcount of workers required to keep the three broken reactors cool while fighting power outages and leaks of tons of radiated water, said current and former nuclear plant workers and others familiar with the situation at Fukushima…….less risky, better paid decontamination projects in the region irradiated by the Fukushima meltdown are another draw.

Some Fukushima veterans are quitting as their cumulative radiation exposure approaches levels risky to health, said two long-time Fukushima nuclear workers who spoke to The Associated Press.

They requested anonymity because their speaking to the media is a breach of their employers’ policy and they say being publicly identified will get them fired………….. Continue reading →

June 12, 2013 Posted by | employment, Fukushima 2013, Japan | Leave a comment

Shortage of Fukushima cleanup workers will be worse if Japan’s nuclear power push goes ahead

Stricken nuke plant struggles on, Yahoo 7 Finance, AAP  Jun 10, 2013“…….One Fukushima Dai-ichi worker, who has gained a big following on Twitter because of his updates about the state of the plant since the meltdowns, said veteran workers are quitting or forced to cut back on working in highly radiated areas of the plant as their cumulative exposure rises…………. Known as Happy-san to his 71,500 Twitter followers, he has worked in the nuclear industry for 20 years, about half of that at Fukushima.

He has worked at bigger contractors before, but is now at a mid-level contractor with about 20 employees, and has an executive level position.

“If things continue the way they are going, I fear decommissioning in 40 years is impossible. If nuclear plants are built abroad, then Japanese engineers and workers will go abroad. If plants in Japan are restarted, engineers and workers will go to those plants,” he said in a tweet………..

Other jobs are already so plentiful that securing enough workers for even the more lucrative work decontaminating the towns around the plant is impossible, according to Fukushima Labour Bureau data.

During the first quarter of this year, only 321 jobs got filled from 2,124 openings in decontamination, which involves scraping soil, gathering foliage and scrubbing walls to bring down radiation levels……….

“We’re headed toward a real crisis,” said Ryuichi Kino, a freelance writer and photographer who has authored books about the nuclear disaster and has reported on TEPCO intensively since March 2011.

Under the worst scenario, experienced workers capable of supervising the work will be gone as they reach their radiation-exposure limits, said Kino.

He believes an independent company separate from TEPCO needs to be set up to deal with the decommissioning, to make sure safety is not being compromised and taxpayer money is spent wisely. http://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/stricken-nuke-plant-struggles-000105277.html

June 12, 2013 Posted by | employment, Japan | Leave a comment

Harm from radiation, among families of nuclear workers

radiation-warningSome Atomic Energy Workers Passed Effects of Radiation and Chemical Exposure to their Spouses and Children Huntington News,  June 3, 2013 –   BY TONY E. RUTHERFORD, NEWS EDITOR “……“Big Jim” took a job working around radioactive elements in 1954 at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PGDP) in Piketon, Ohio. Workers told his daughter how they kept their lunches warm by laying them on uranium yellow cakes and poked fun of individuals who put around their clothing before painting.  They wore radiation exposure badges, but by “doing his job” Jim later developed four cancers.

 “My dad talked about the A plant, but he never told us what it was,” Joan Fearing  (Big Jim’s daughter) said. “Mom washed his work clothes.”  She passed away from a rare form of cancer too.  “When my mother was dying, she still did not tell us what it was.”

The Cold War ended the arms race. Nuclear weapons were replaced with atoms for peace at electrical power plants. However, the atomic legacy appears passed to the  21st Century. Continue reading →

June 4, 2013 Posted by | employment, health, USA | 3 Comments

Radiation risks to health staff from nuclear medical imaging

medical-radiationWhat to do when the patient is hot http://www.theheart.org/article/1535927.do    7 May 13,  MAY 7, 2013  Boston, MA – Patients who’ve had a nuclear imaging study with radioactive tracers become, themselves, radiation emitters—something that hospital staff should keep in mind, say researchers in a new analysis trying to quantify that risk. Their research letter is published today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology [1]. Continue reading →

May 9, 2013 Posted by | employment, health, radiation | Leave a comment

The fallacy of assuming that weapons manufacture creates jobs

America’s War Games How the Obama administration is redefining the US military’s strategic priorities with far-reaching consequences, Aljazeera, 27 April 13  “……. William Hartung, from the Center for International Policy says that Pentagon contractors have “for years used the jobs argument to revive weapons systems that have been cancelled. To push for things that even the Pentagon itself has not wanted.” For months, a study has been circulating in Washington, underwritten by the Aerospace Industries Association, a major defence industry trade group. It claims that a million jobs would be lost as a result of sequestration cuts to defence spending.

Hartung, who has analysed the study, says it exaggerates the potential job loss number by a factor of three, and that many of those jobs will be replaced. He points out that spending on education, health care, and infrastructure “can create 1.5 to 2 times as many jobs. So the economy would be much better off spending on things other than the Pentagon.”

Several recent reports examining ways to cut Pentagon spending call for changes in the US nuclear weapons posture. They claim that it would produce hundreds of billions of dollars of savings in coming decades, and the Obama administration is reportedly considering nuclear weapons cuts. But they will be difficult to achieve.

“People are still mired in Cold War thinking and they feel like the more nuclear weapons we have the better,” Hartung says. “And in addition to that the nuclear weapons industry has some of the biggest strongest companies in the military industrial complex.”

Lockheed Martin builds submarines, launches ballistic missiles, and runs the nuclear weapons laboratories; General Dynamics builds nuclear subs; and Northrop Grumman, Boeing and Lockheed Martin are all hoping to build the next nuclear bomber……http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/peopleandpower/2013/04/2013424113558268754.html

 

April 29, 2013 Posted by | employment, Reference, USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Misleading information masks true level of radiation received by Fukushima workers

text ionising63 workers exposed to higher radiation than logged in their records,
March 02, 2013, THE ASAHI SHIMBUN  by Toshio Tada and Jun Sato
Dozens of workers at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant
were exposed to radiation levels higher than those registered in their
personal records, according to a health ministry investigation. Continue reading →

March 4, 2013 Posted by | employment, Fukushima 2013, Japan | Leave a comment

Radiation risk causes doctors to go on strike – Wuhan, China

flag-ChinaWuhan doctors on strike over X-ray radiation  Shanghai Daily, February 22, 2013 Some hospital workers in Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province reportedly went on strike after three gynecologists developed thyroid cancer, which they believed was caused by their frequent exposure to X-rays.

The three women doctors at the Wuhan Union Hospital were diagnosed with cancer last month, today’s Beijing News reported. They blamed the hospital in a statement made to the public on Monday.

The statement said they performed surgeries on a floor directly underneath two X-ray machines in two bone surgery rooms overhead. The two rooms were not insulated with radiation-proof materials. The hospital did not inform or warn them of the risks…… http://www.china.org.cn/china/2013-02/22/content_28035886.htm

February 24, 2013 Posted by | employment, radiation | Leave a comment

Many Fukushima labourers cheated out of correct pay

radiation-warningMinistry: Many Fukushima laborers deprived of danger pay
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201302090067  By
TOSHIO TADA February 09, 2013 The Environment Ministry has admitted
danger pay has not been reaching some laborers entitled to a hefty
flag-japanbonus for their work on decontamination projects near the Fukushima
No. 1 nuclear plant.
Unscrupulous employers likely pocketed the missing cash, but the
ministry says it will neither penalize them nor name and shame them
because that “would have a big adverse effect,” an official in charge
of the matter said. Continue reading →

February 11, 2013 Posted by | employment, Japan | Leave a comment

Shortage of workers at Fukushima nuclear plant resulted in high radiation exposure

Worker shortages revealed at nuclear plant after disaster
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T130113003104.htm   14 Jan
A manager’s calls for reinforcements to help contain a series of
crises at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power
plant were ignored, newly released TEPCO teleconference footage has
revealed.

Although Masao Yoshida, then manager of the plant damaged by the March
11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami, repeatedly asked TEPCO headquarters
in Tokyo to send more workers, the request was not met in a timely
manner. As a result, the plant’s workers suffered extreme fatigue and
heightened radiation exposure, the footage showed. Continue reading →

January 14, 2013 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, employment, Japan | Leave a comment

Japan workers organise for a nuclear free society

antinuke-badgeIt’s Labor’s Turn! – Workers’ Committee to Aim for Nuclear Free Society Established http://labornetjp.blogspot.com.au/2012/12/its-labors-turn-workers-committee-to.html “Civil society is active in no nukes movement, but it’s our turn now to mobilize workers and unions,” HASEGAWA Takehisa, president of Japan Construction and Transport Industry Workers Solidarity Union, said on Nov. 20 in Tokyo. “We have long made effort to protect our jobs and livelihoods, but as we are threatened even for our existence by nuclear plants, we must protect our lives and safety. No life, no job. We would build solidarity with those who are deprived of decent work and living due to dangerous work in radioactive environment.” The committee formed by seven unions plans to hold a simultaneous actions in March and movie screening of a documentary on people of Futaba. Some 60 attended the meeting held for establishment of the committee and listened to KAIDO Yuichi, lawyer, who spoke of the basic law on nuclear free society. (By M)

これからは労働運動の出番だ！～「脱原発社会をめざす労働者実行委員会」結成集会
「市 民運動が活発だが、これからは労働運動の出番だ」。11月20日、長谷川武久委員長（全日建連帯労組）は、東京・全水道会館で開かれた「脱原発社会をめざ す労働者実行委員会」結成集会で意気込みを語った。「労働運動といえば『雇用と生活を守る』ことに力を入れてきたが、原発に生存を脅かされている今は、 『命と安全を守る』ことが重要。命なくして雇用もない。被ばく労働者問題や被災地で人間らしい生活を奪われた人達と連帯していきたい」と訴えた。7労組で 構成される会は、来年3月の一斉アクションや『原発の町を追われて～避難民・双葉町の記録』などの脱原発映画上映活動に取り組む。この日の集会には60名 が参加し、海渡雄一氏の講演「脱原発基本法のめざすもの」に耳を傾けた。（M）

December 10, 2012 Posted by | employment, Japan | Leave a comment

Exploitation of workers at Fukushima nuclear plant

Asahi: Fukushima workers report exploitation — Told to be like kamikaze — Large numbers leaving — “I wonder if we can raise children” http://enenews.com/asahi-fukushima-workers-report-exploitation-told-to-be-like-kamikaze-large-numbers-leaving-i-wonder-if-we-can-raise-children
December 9th, 2012 
Title: Worker wants new government to secure safety at Fukushima plant 
Source: AJW by The Asahi Shimbun
Author: Miki Aoki and Toshio Tada
Date: December 09, 2012

A man in his 50s hopes that a new government to be formed after the Dec. 16 Lower House election will protect the health of workers like himself at the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant […]

The man said workers at the Fukushima No. 1 plant are being exploited. […]

“Many people work without seeing a doctor because they fear they might be told not to come anymore from the next day,” he said. “It is a distortion caused by the layers of subcontractors involved. I want the government to protect us.” […] Continue reading →

December 10, 2012 Posted by | employment, Fukushima 2012, Japan | Leave a comment

Data on Fukushima workers’ radiation exposure

TEPCO releases worker radiation exposure data to WHO, Enformable.com. 6 Dec 12 TEPCO released data related to the radiation exposure doses documented for Fukushima Daiichi emergency workers which it had submitted to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The data showed the youngest workers were in their teens, while the oldest was 84 years old.  One of the teenagers was exposed to 56.89 mSv.  Most of the workers are in their 40s.  26 workers are over the age of 70.
TEPCO Worker Ages……
The highest radiation dose recorded was 678.8 mSv.  The highest dose recorded by a worker in their 20s was 477.01 mSv…..
Distribution of Thyroid Doses based on measured value of I-131 (Thyroid equivalent dose from Cs not included in data)……
There are still over 600 workers unaccounted for in the most recent data, TEPCO did not release any details as to why they were unable to track down the missing workers……..

Source: TEPCO

Source: JiJi Press

Read more at http://enformable.com/2012/12/tepco-releases-worker-radiation-exposure-data-to-who/#les31YbP4ZC0Kk2S.99

December 8, 2012 Posted by | employment, Fukushima 2012, Japan | Leave a comment

Renewable Energy – a job provider for millions of Indians

Indian Renewable Energy Sector to Create 2.4 Million Jobs by 2020 http://theenergycollective.com/energyjobline/147291/indian-renewable-energy-sector-create-24-million-jobs-2020 by C. Dominguez November 24, 2012 India’s renewable energy sector is to create up to 2.4 million jobs by 2020, according to a report jointly commissioned by environmental group Greenpeace, the Global Wind Energy Council and the European Renewable Energy Council.
To date, the sector employs 200,000 people, but this could jump 14 times by 2030 with the right policies and investments in place, stated India Energy [R]evolution report.
By 2050, about 92 percent of India’s energy infrastructure will be based on renewable energy sources. Renewables such as wind, solar thermal energy and photovoltaic, will comprise 74 percent of electricity generation. Continue reading →

November 27, 2012 Posted by | employment, India, renewable | Leave a comment

Low level radiation increased leukaemia risk for nuclear cleanup workers

Chernobyl study shows need for caution in Fukushima
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20121114f2.html# UKO27Xhzxqg.twitter Kyodo A study released Thursday by a U.S. research team links protracted exposure to low-level radiation to a higher risk of leukemia among workers engaged in the cleanup of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, and points to the need to protect those involved in dealing with the Fukushima crisis.
Continue reading →

November 16, 2012 Posted by | employment, health, Japan, Ukraine | Leave a comment

Worsening working conditions at Fukushima – Video

NHK Documentary: Recently deteriorating working conditions at Fukushima plant causing workers to quit — Company hasn’t been able to recruit a single employee (VIDEO) http://enenews.com/nhk-documentary-working-conditions-deteriorating-fukushima-plant-many-workers-leaving-company-hasnt-able-recruit-single-worker-video
November 13th, 2012 
Title: WANTED: Workers for Fukushima Decommission
Source: NHK
Uploaded by: MissingSky101
Date: Nov 12, 2012
NHK Narrator: This company that manages and maintains nuclear plant
instruments hasn’t been able to recruit a single worker for the plant
since the accident.

Yukiteru Naka, Chairman: If nothing changes there will be no young
workers at the plant in future. I think that’s very clear.

[…]

NHK Reporter: Many workers in areas with high radiation levels are
quitting. They have to leave in around 3 months when their level of
exposure is at the safety limit.

Recently deteriorating working conditions are also making others leave.

November 15, 2012 Posted by | employment, Fukushima 2012, Resources -audiovicual | Leave a comment

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