1,400 Fukushima plant workers waiting for radiation exposure results
Jun. 15, 2011
While authorities slammed Tokyo Electric Power Co. for exposing workers at its crippled nuclear power plant to radiation levels exceeding the allowable limit, particularly for internal exposure, around 1,400 of the company's workers are still waiting for detailed checkup results.
About 3,700 people worked at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in the period from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami to the end of that month, but the utility had finished detailed checks for internal radiation exposure on only around 2,300 by late May.
Hidehiko Nishiyama, a spokesman for the government's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, said one of the reasons for TEPCO's inability to provide swift checkups for its workers is that the utility does not have enough whole body counters -- dosimeters designed specifically to measure radioactivity levels within the human body.
The situation poses a serious problem as the nuclear crisis, triggered by the earthquake and tsunami, is still unfolding and a large number of people are desperately working to bring the plant under control. Internal radiation exposure could increase the incidence of cancer and leukemia.
On June 3, two TEPCO employees working at the Fukushima Daiichi plant were confirmed as having received radiation doses of 678 millisieverts and 643 millisieverts, more than twice the legal limit of 250 millisieverts for people working dealing with the crisis.
The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said earlier this week that another six workers may have been exposed to excessive radiation.
Each worker at the Fukushima plant wears a dosimeter to gauge external exposure and keeps a record everyday. As for internal exposure, caused by the absorption of radioactive materials through the nose and mouth, workers normally undergo detailed tests every three months using a whole body counter.
TEPCO had four such counters at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, according to company officials. But they were rendered useless once the crisis broke out because radiation levels at the plant became too high to accurately gauge whole body exposure, they said.
TEPCO is currently conducting detailed checkups for people working at the plant using four whole body counters at a different facility, and it will take several months before the utility can increase the number of counters to over 14.
Given the situation, the utility reportedly placed priority on examining the internal exposure of 21 workers whose external exposure had exceeded 100 millisieverts, and 19 women, for whom a lower limit has been set, engaged in non-nuclear duties at the plant.
The two men who were confirmed on June 3 as having been exposed to high levels of radiation were not in the priority group, indicating a substantial difference in the levels of external and internal exposure, experts said.
The external exposure of one of the men was 88 millisieverts but his internal exposure was 590 millisieverts, while the external exposure of the other was 103 millisieverts but his internal exposure was 540 millisieverts, they said.
The experts fear that the current legal limit for workers at the Fukushima plant could be raised because the crisis is unlikely to end anytime soon and there is likely to be a shortage of workers possessing the requisite skills and knowledge.
People working for TEPCO's subcontractors said radiation levels at the plant have fallen overall but there are areas with high levels where dosimeters can count 1 to 2 millisieverts within a couple of hours.
Some residents of Fukushima Prefecture have said they would also like to undergo whole body counter checks, but Goshi Hosono, special adviser to Prime Minister Naoto Kan, has said such checkups for residents may not take place for some time as the government only possesses a limited number of whole body counters.
(Distributed by Kyodo News on June 14, 2011)
About 3,700 people worked at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in the period from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami to the end of that month, but the utility had finished detailed checks for internal radiation exposure on only around 2,300 by late May.
Hidehiko Nishiyama, a spokesman for the government's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, said one of the reasons for TEPCO's inability to provide swift checkups for its workers is that the utility does not have enough whole body counters -- dosimeters designed specifically to measure radioactivity levels within the human body.
The situation poses a serious problem as the nuclear crisis, triggered by the earthquake and tsunami, is still unfolding and a large number of people are desperately working to bring the plant under control. Internal radiation exposure could increase the incidence of cancer and leukemia.
On June 3, two TEPCO employees working at the Fukushima Daiichi plant were confirmed as having received radiation doses of 678 millisieverts and 643 millisieverts, more than twice the legal limit of 250 millisieverts for people working dealing with the crisis.
The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said earlier this week that another six workers may have been exposed to excessive radiation.
Each worker at the Fukushima plant wears a dosimeter to gauge external exposure and keeps a record everyday. As for internal exposure, caused by the absorption of radioactive materials through the nose and mouth, workers normally undergo detailed tests every three months using a whole body counter.
TEPCO had four such counters at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, according to company officials. But they were rendered useless once the crisis broke out because radiation levels at the plant became too high to accurately gauge whole body exposure, they said.
TEPCO is currently conducting detailed checkups for people working at the plant using four whole body counters at a different facility, and it will take several months before the utility can increase the number of counters to over 14.
Given the situation, the utility reportedly placed priority on examining the internal exposure of 21 workers whose external exposure had exceeded 100 millisieverts, and 19 women, for whom a lower limit has been set, engaged in non-nuclear duties at the plant.
The two men who were confirmed on June 3 as having been exposed to high levels of radiation were not in the priority group, indicating a substantial difference in the levels of external and internal exposure, experts said.
The external exposure of one of the men was 88 millisieverts but his internal exposure was 590 millisieverts, while the external exposure of the other was 103 millisieverts but his internal exposure was 540 millisieverts, they said.
The experts fear that the current legal limit for workers at the Fukushima plant could be raised because the crisis is unlikely to end anytime soon and there is likely to be a shortage of workers possessing the requisite skills and knowledge.
People working for TEPCO's subcontractors said radiation levels at the plant have fallen overall but there are areas with high levels where dosimeters can count 1 to 2 millisieverts within a couple of hours.
Some residents of Fukushima Prefecture have said they would also like to undergo whole body counter checks, but Goshi Hosono, special adviser to Prime Minister Naoto Kan, has said such checkups for residents may not take place for some time as the government only possesses a limited number of whole body counters.
(Distributed by Kyodo News on June 14, 2011)
