Labor minister orders probe into claims workers' radiation levels faked

Simply criminal.

Equality: More criminal still is that no one has been arrested, nor will they, in all likelihood.

Tepco need to be brought up on endangering workers, I don't care they are a sub contractor, they are working for Tepco... someone needs to goto jail for allowing this to happen.

"If true, this is extremely regrettable.”

There we go. Rap over the knuckles coming up.

Burakumindes, beat me to it.

So, exactly what was the regrettable part? According to their track record, the revelation of the fact would be most "regrettable", ne?

Sad thing is, I'm not even being sarcastic.

“We will deal with it in a strict manner if any laws were broken. If true, this is extremely regrettable.”

no, not regrettable. It's not too **** bad for the employees, that's what this is saying. It's criminal and it means that companies should be held to account and hauled off to jail. They should not be able to hold meetings and say sumimasen anymore on the backs of irradiated employees.

If true, this is extremely regrettable.”

Wow. Pretty much sums up any kind of illegality among corporate Japan.

How about something a little bit stronger? How about this:

"If these allegations are true, then we are obviously looking at jail terms, steep fines, and loss of licenses for anybody involved."

Regrettable. Sheesh.

I'm guessing the only thing that is regrettable is that the story has actually got out. While nobody knew I'm sure there were no regrets at all.

The strange thing is, the 'executive' or supervisor who suggested using the lead shields also worked with the team, so he was quite happy to receive excessive or unmeasured doses of radiation, just like his workers. He either does not understand the hazards of absorbing ionizing radiation, or just does not care about himself...

basroil

Perhaps they should allow a waver system that allows people who fully understand the risks to work longer. It would certainly reduce under-reporting, though doesn't help the workers. I'm sure the government would be all for a system like that, cuts out the media attention and they can just wash their hands of anything that can come out of it.

I'm sure that goes against the workers rights and human rights. See, the thing about nuclear... is that they're handling a level of risk that no private corporations can handle. Only the government can allow people to risk their lives for some potential gain, such as in the military or firefighters. I don't think that nuclear should be in the hands of private corporations.

There is no known risk at that level, and thus conforms with the lowest possible level criteria.

Yes, there are... We know that any amount of radiation is potentially a risk.

Don't investigate until it is exposed by the media. How nice of Japan. xD

This is an issue that shakes the foundation of the management of workers’ radiation exposure,” she said. “We will deal with it in a strict manner if any laws were broken. If true, this is extremely regrettable.”

Wow! Hard to believe it! A politik that pulled their head out of the sand for a breath of fresh (radiated) air.

Perhaps he thinks that the safety standards are unreasonably strict. I might well accept being irradiated if I was given a sufficiently high salary. As a middle-aged man it would take a substantial dose to significantly raise my cancer risk (takes time to develop at all, let alone kill). The safety standards are set at around the lowest threshold for any chance of a detectable rise, not at the level at which there is a really significant danger.

If my cancer risk went from 40 to 41%, big deal (or maybe 25 to 26% as I'm pretty healthy and don't smoke). Lots of smokers willingly accept vastly worse odds.

That said, the standards are not there to be flouted, and covering up the detectors would risk a much higher (and unknown) exposure.

As long as it is regrettable, hey fellas? No worries! Carry on!

I have said many times, all these Japanese companies need to be locked out of the plant and get an international team in to clean this mess up pronto! There has been many international offers made that the J-Gov and TEPCO have refused. The French offered 50 professionals that promised a two year clean up. Here we are 18 months later with only two fuel rods removed and scandal upon scandal being revealed. "Shiiiiit!" Now, we all know why they refused the international help. They don't want the rest of the world to know how much of a scandalous debacle their clean up effort is. Shame Japan! Shame!!!

japan_cynicJul. 25, 2012 - 04:27PM JST

The safety standards are set at around the lowest threshold for any chance of a detectable rise, not at the level at which there is a really significant danger.

They are actually far lower. In the case of non-nuclear workers, 100x lower, for the case of nuclear workers, 2-3x lower than where LNT is a reasonable model.

The 100mSv/5 yr limit is likely derived the same way as the 1Sv lifetime limit for permanent evacuation. There is no known risk at that level, and thus conforms with the lowest possible level criteria.

Lets see how the finding places 100% of the blame on TEPCO and none on the government that was supposed to provide oversight. If the government received a report where one group had significantly less than all others, they should have immediately checked for problems. If they didn't ask for reports (likely don't), then even worse.

This is going to just be another in a long line of "we had no idea" government coverups.

wanderlustJul. 25, 2012 - 12:01PM JST

He either does not understand the hazards of absorbing ionizing radiation, or just does not care about himself...

Or he understands perfectly and instead needs the money to live long enough to see the consequences.

Perhaps they should allow a waver system that allows people who fully understand the risks to work longer. It would certainly reduce under-reporting, though doesn't help the workers. I'm sure the government would be all for a system like that, cuts out the media attention and they can just wash their hands of anything that can come out of it.

In the bbc a few days ago this was reported as tepco cover up. read the story( as teh bbc reported and this one), it's not; it's another company.

Quality news surrounds fukishima. got to get those clicks.

The workers were hired for about four months to insulate pipes at a water treatment facility, Kyodo News has said.

It looks like these guys were working on the Kurion plant (http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/WR_Fukushima_water_treatment_stepping_up_1503121.html), which is further from the reactors than the main parking lot. If that is the case, we can be fairly certain that they did not receive dangerous (even long term dose is likely under their limit) amounts of radiation, and rather the contractor company wanted to keep experienced workers longer to pump more money out of TEPCO. The workers surely would have received more significant amounts if they had continued though, and hopefully this will be a lesson to other workers. Perhaps now they know they have a right to refuse dangerous environments that do not conform with protocol.