Authorities probe radiation dose cover-up at Fukushima plant

And? Will they hold someone responsible and charge them? No? Than why waste the time and money? TEPCO still hasn't faced up to what they did, I doubt this company will be any different.

This is outrageous, but unfortunately I would bet good money that these lead cases exist already since pretty long in the worldwide nuke gipsies. As said: outrageous, but nothing news. The only difference is that I know it now and I am really pissed off with the N-Village!

It's very easy to squirm out of responsibility in Japan: "Heyyy, sorry about that, ne!"

This is nothing new really. Maybe "new" because it's related to Fukushima, but it happens all the time in corporate Japan, and in particular with middle-sized to small-sized businesses and in particular sub-contractors.

Many smaller businesses need the contracts to stay afloat and will cut corners to keep themselves in business. I am not saying it's ok, not in the least. But when people stop and think about just who is doing the cleanup at Fukushima, stories like this should not surprise anyone.

Sub-contractors, and "day-laborers" are the one's, for the most part, putting their butts on the line to get it cleaned up. And without them there would probably be no one who would be willing to do it.

The government needs to step in and take this over once and for all.

an investigation had begun over the weekend following media reports of a cover-up at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

Took the press to get the Labor Ministry off its butt. Shame.

The only people who will be punished for this are the workers who leaked the information to the press. This continues to show how corrupt Japan inc. remains and how it will never change. A human life is worth nothing is even one yen of profit is lost. IMHO those who are involved in directing ANY under-reporting of exposure should be sentenced to at least 1 year of hard labor AT FUKUSHIMA WITHOUT THE BENEFIT OF A DOSIMETER!

Yeah, they will investigate it, but to what end? Meanwhile, while they are dithering around and pointing fingers there is still very little being accomplished at the plant. Is there nobody in this country with the ethics to get in and clean this mess up quickly?

Yakuza, why are tepco and the government allowing this crap?

I smell a class action lawsuit against the subcontractor and any links to other companies who knew this was going on by the families of the workers (or the workers themselves). Wouldnt be surprised if jgov was included as one of the parties involved. Over a year, and they are just now checking to see if the people are safe? One more nail in the coffin that is Japan. Leaning more and more to moving back to Canada. This boat be sinking.

Good old Japanese business practices, and there are those who say corporate management here has no problems. What's going to come of this 'probe'? absolutely nothing.

Lets see how this "investigation" puts full blame on TEPCO even though the government should have been monitoring (NISA) and the government failed to make whistle-blower protections adequate enough. This is a government failure above all else, and this "investigation" will serve to just cover that up.

This is most regrettable. I expect Mr Wada will have to do some serious bowing and promise not to get caught again to get off the hook.

Lets see how this "investigation" puts full blame on TEPCO even though the government should have been monitoring (NISA) and the government failed to make whistle-blower protections adequate enough. This is a government failure above all else, and this "investigation" will serve to just cover that up.

This is because over the years TEPCO and the other utility companies have made sure (and it`s pretty easy to imagine just how they made sure) that their industries were not properly regulated by the government. Otherwise, for example, the government could have demanded long ago that aging nuclear plants be modernized or, if they weren't modernized and made safe, then shutdown.

billyshearsJul. 23, 2012 - 11:33AM JST

the government could have demanded long ago that aging nuclear plants be modernized or, if they weren't modernized and made safe, then shutdown.

The companies were a step ahead of you there. They asked the government for permits to create new Gen 3+ (10 times longer MTBF, so one accident per 250 years rather than 25 expected) sites but were told to just use the old sites, and then they asked for permits to make more reactors at current sites and were delayed decades.

basroil: "They asked the government for permits to create new Gen 3+ (10 times longer MTBF, so one accident per 250 years rather than 25 expected) sites but were told to just use the old sites, and then they asked for permits to make more reactors at current sites and were delayed decades."

Before or after they intentionally hid the fact they were building on major fault lines?

The companies were a step ahead of you there. They asked the government for permits to create new Gen 3+ (10 times longer MTBF, so one accident per 250 years rather than 25 expected) sites but were told to just use the old sites, and then they asked for permits to make more reactors at current sites and were delayed decades.

You are trying to make out that the nuclear industry and the government were somehow not complicit in their incompetence. How is it, despite all the cover-ups, such as in this story about the dosimeters, no TEPCO official has faced criminal charges? Because the nuclear industry in Japan made sure they had the government under their thumb. And still do:

http://japandailypress.com/japanese-government-shamelessly-undermines-the-independence-of-nuclear-regulatory-commission-217065

"One of the major reasons for the disaster at Fukushima Daiichi was a lack of the strong regulatory system in the nuclear industry. In the government, there were multiple regulatory agencies seeking their own interest. As for one, the Nuclear and Industry Safety Agency belonged to Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry, protecting, not regulating, the nuclear industry."

"The two most important players were the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry and the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), with bureaucrats in one confident of post-retirement perches in the other under the tradition known as amakudari. “People call them the ‘nuclear mafia,’ ” Jimbo said. “They tend to hide and distort information, and you can understand it, because there is such a negative attitude toward nuclear issues in Japan that they try to hold on to and not release information that will make them look bad.” [Source: Evan Osnos, The New Yorker, March 28, 2011]"

"Evan Osnos wrote in The New Yorker: Over the years, nuclear regulators became so submissive to the industry that critics named the alliance Japan’s “nuclear village.” To some extent, Taro Kono blamed the fact that the agency charged with policing power plants—the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency—was part of the very ministry in charge of promoting them. “There’s no reason for you to regulate something, because when you go back to the ministry everyone’s going to be mad at you,” he said. Moreover, staff members are reluctant to change rules laid out by predecessors. As Kono put it, “Even after top bureaucrats retire, they have influence on personnel changes, so you have to have a good relationship with the old guys.” [Source: Evan Osnos, The New Yorker, October 17, 2011]"

BTW, basroil, where's the link to your assertion about the Japanese governments refusing the nuclear industry permits? I'd like to read about it, but I couldn't find anything

zichi: you continue to amaze me with your bastion of knowledge and your links to the facts. It really makes it hard for people like basroil to rebut without giving any factual information. Thank you. I feel very sorry for these nuclear gypsies, and outraged that the government allows it to go on without batting an eye, and that companies like TEPCO are rewarded for it.

billyshearsJul. 23, 2012 - 12:34PM JST

Japanese governments refusing the nuclear industry permits? I'd like to read about it, but I couldn't find anything

Mind you that like any multi-level organization, I am referring only to the weakest link, the one that made the decision against it. http://archive.greenpeace.org/comms/no.nukes/react02b.html has a section where you can see that the government, in this case a local branch, denied building rights to a plant. The Supreme-Court then upheld that decision.

Japan has long had a silent policy of nuclear export over local nuclear, and as such they ignored passing proper laws to maintain local reactors and workers.

More so than the companies, the government itself should be blamed for the failures and lack of protections for workers. While some of these temp workers do wander from plant to plant, more likely wander from dangerous job to dangerous job locally, and the effects of the plants could be outweighed a hundred times over from the other jobs. The government is failing these people, since regardless of what TEPCO could have done, these people would be in danger as long as the government looks the other way as they always have.

zichiJul. 23, 2012 - 12:38PM JST

There are 3000 of these workers on site everyday.

In 2010, 88% of the 83,000 workers at the 18 commercial nuclear power plants were contract workers, according to NISA. A study by the Citizens' Nuclear Information Centre, a Tokyo watchdog group, found that contractors in 2010 accounted for 96% of the harmful radiation absorbed by workers at the atomic power plants.

http://www.smh.com.au/environment/caravan-of-calamity--nuclear-gypsies-japans-dirty-secret-20111205-1offs.html

Your article states just one guy (and other contractors who subcontract) is doing this while several local (well, reasonably local). In fact, it seems like this "gypsy" is actually just like the company in question for the probe. According to http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr0713/v32/#abstract, a corrected average dose (accounting for transient workers) should be close to 0.17rem/yr, which is 1.7mSv/yr. So even if 88% of the people received 96% of the radiation, we are expecting just 1.85mSv/yr average among those temp workers in 2010. There are plenty of non-nuclear related jobs that have much higher yearly averages.

So what of the non-gypsies, the normal temp workers who are used by the gypsies? Do we ignore their safety simply because the other guys only work in nuclear while they take any dangerous job that pays enough?

zichiJul. 23, 2012 - 02:24PM JST

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr0713/v32/#abstract

does not mention a single sentence about anything that is happening in Japan?

Japan doesn't document it, so without THIS information, all of your articles are worthless, as they are all based on it. Nuclear plants in question are built by the same people in the same design, and therefore produce roughly the same radiation for workers who work the same accidents. Double check the citizens's nuclear whatever-it's-called work and you'll see their assumptions are based off of it (adjusted to level of temp workers in Japan)

basroil: "In fact, it seems like this "gypsy" is actually just like the company in question for the probe."

The company hired by TEPCO, you mean, right?

basroil: "So what of the non-gypsies, the normal temp workers who are used by the gypsies? Do we ignore their safety simply because the other guys only work in nuclear while they take any dangerous job that pays enough?"

No, you ensure safety for all -- something you seem hell-bent on avoiding in favour of taking the stance of the nuclear village. Or at least, something you seem happy about encouraging the cover-ups and scandals associated with TEPCO.

zichiJul. 23, 2012 - 03:08PM JST

The nuclear gypsies and day laborers earn between ¥5000 to ¥15,000 per day, depending on which contractor or sub contractor they are working for. They are living in seedy or low class hotels in Fukushima City, 4 or 5 per room to reduce the costs. Probably, those hotels are breaking laws about occupancy limits. On any one day at the plant there are about 3,000 of these workers, or about 10 times the number of TEPCO workers.

Odd, the article you quoted before said ~$650 or about 50000 yen/day. Can we get a source for those numbers?

zichi: "Since the nuclear disaster will last many many decades, more than five, TEPCO needs to take some actions to improve the lot of these workers. Like building cheap but comfortable accommodation. By giving then health checks."

But if they did that, they would have to admit the effects of radiation poisoning, and they don't want to do that because they want to insist it's not as bad at the TMI or Chernobyl disaster in terms of how it's affected people. If they can continue to rely on said gypsies and turn a blind eye, those people will never figure into the statistics.

basroil: "Odd, the article you quoted before said ~$650 or about 50000 yen/day. Can we get a source for those numbers?"

Better question is, when you get the source, will you just ignore it or admit you're wrong?

zichiJul. 23, 2012 - 03:33PM JST

I didn't mention the levels of radiation workers were exposed to but it's always clear from your comments that you are trying to say whatever has happened, the level of radiation exposure even at 200 millisieverts per year is not a concern for health problems

1) You mentioned in another article that they can be exposed up to 300microSv/hr, at which the 50mSv limit would be met in 3 months. Simple multiplication means the year long exposure is 200mSv max.

2) The risks are quite clearly stated, and at 200mSv we are looking at about a 0.2% chance of dying from radiation caused cancer (assuming all cancers are equally increased). There is an increased chance of cancer in long term health, but no immediate health issues.

3) Some of these guys are decontaminating the steel taken from the plant (damaged buildings), likely by primarily surface treating the steel since not enough time has passed to cause even changes in steel radiation. Surface treatment will expose them to several volatile chemicals and fine particulates, known to cause cancer and other illness at significant rates. I would be far more concerned about the other things they are hiding, as they are far more dangerous. The reports focus on too few areas to actually know what risks these workers have, and I can bet you that radiation is just the tip of the iceberg.

IT'S NOT TO LATE TO COVER THE WHOLE THING UP WITH CEMENT AND LEAD SHIELDING.

WHY ARE THEY USING A 3RD WORLD APPROACH IN SOLVING THIS SITUATION ?

WHY ARE THEY MOPPING IT UP LIKE IT'S SPILLED MILK ? THEY ARE TAKING A RELAXED ATTITUDE TOWARDS THIS.

Where are they getting these workers from ? Prison ? Homeless ? 3rd world country foreigners ?

Who are these workers ?

The issue reflects a growing concern among the government and TEPCO about how to secure a continuous flow of workers to finish cleaning up the plant. Officials say it will take about 40 years to decommission the plant’s four wrecked reactors - three with melted cores and another with a spent fuel pool in a shattered building.

How can anybody can clean up this mess that is so gigantic in size that this is the worst Nuclear Disaster in MODREN TIMES ?

How can anybody clean up this mess ? YOu literally cannot !!!! Just bury it under cement and wait 100 years.

zichiJul. 23, 2012 - 04:43PM JST

Acrylic does not cause any forms of cancer. I have been using acrylic daily for 40 years. But these would be airborne particles and the face mask would prevent them from entering the body.

There could well be other deadly substances, which have not been reported like asbestos. On my arrival in this country 20 years ago I was shocked how much asbestos is still around. But again, that would be an airborne problem and the mask would prevent it from entering the body.

Since when do asbestos and acrylic have anything to do with radiation coverups?

Zichi,

I just quote the legal acceptable levels of radiation exposure, which is 50 millisieverts per year or a maximum of 100 millisieverts over 5 years.

I would like to draw your attention to table 'Maximum Permissiable Dose' on the following page: http://www.angelfire.com/mac/nws/exposure_levels.htm

( The same data can be found at more authoritative sources, this was just one that I had at hand that contained both ICRP and NCRP, side by side)

The numbers for radiation workers are: 50 mSv/yr for NCRP, 20 mSv/yr for ICRP

The numbers for pregnant radiation workers are: 5mSv/yr for NCRP, 2mSv/yr for ICRP

The number for the general public is: 1 mSv for both NCRP and ICRP.

The ICRP numbers are the ones that were generally used for research in Japan, before the accident. It is worth noting that ICRP (International Commission on Radiological Protection) only task is radiation protection, they do not regulate nuclear industry, like NCRP and most of the other organizations which we have come to know during this last year and a half.

Sorry, I mixed up a couple of different open JapanToday tabs in my browser. The article and your comment are both about Worker doses, so your comment is 100% correct.

Still I often see the worker dose numbers used as justification for the high doses to general public. So it was probably good to get those numbers out there once again anyway.

SquidBert,

Comments on recommended radiation levels for the general public has nothing to do with radiation coverup for plant workers.

Basroil,

Comments on recommended radiation levels for the general public has nothing to do with radiation coverup for plant workers.

I already noted something to that effect in my previous post, didn't I?

Sorry, I mixed up a couple of different open JapanToday tabs in my browser. The article and your comment are both about Worker doses, so your comment is 100% correct.

Further more my post was addressed to zichi not you.

The inquiry into any Tepco cover-up is is sure to be marred by the legion of similar cover-ups orchestrated by the Japanese government with regard to Fukushima. Tokyo has been classed as unsafe to live in by American and German academics yet this is not news in Japan-maybe it is better to die calmly and in ignorance than in a panic eh? Regarding workers for labour at the plant I have seen ads seeking to recruit South Americans at rates of up to 30000 yen a day.....

Moderator: Please do not post rubbish like this. Tokyo has not been classed as unsafe to live in by any responsible person.

basroil,

especially when background rates in Tokyo are half that of any major city east of Paris. Tokyo is a major city east of Paris.