TEPCO subcontractor used lead to fake dosimeter readings at Fukushima plant

Workers at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant were ordered to cover their dosimeters with lead plates to keep radiation doses low enough to continue working under dangerous conditions, the Asahi Shimbun has learned.

Some refused the orders. Others raised questions about their safety and the legality of the practice. But the man in charge, a senior official of a subcontractor of Tokyo Electric Power Co., warned them that they would lose their jobs--and any chance of employment at other nuclear plants--if they failed to comply.

The pocket-sized dosimeters sound an alarm when they detect high radiation levels. A worker who has been exposed to an accumulated dose of 50 millisieverts within a year must stop working and stay away from the area for a certain period of time.

The 54-year-old senior official at Build-Up, a midsize construction company based in Fukushima Prefecture, worked out a system to ensure the dosimeters would not reach the limit, according to the workers. It included having the workers themselves build the lead cover that would prevent the radiation from reaching the dosimeters.

Brings to mind that old song “Take This Job and Shove It.” A job flipping burgers sounds pretty good about now.

Back in the spring, I spoke to a woman who was all excited about her husband being offered big time money to help with the clean up and a package for the family to go there. They were being told it was perfectly safe. My question was if it was so safe, then why were they having to bring in outsiders and throw money at them. It’s one thing if her husband felt this was his calling but it’s just crazy to take children into that situation.

The National Academy Of Science BEIR reports have, for some time, provided the medical evidence to support LNT. They state in one of their summaries (paraphrasing) “Despite what the nuclear energy industry would like to believe, the LNT model correctly reveals that damage occurs at very low levels etc.”

It’s not erring on the side of caution. Congress enacted legislation in 2000 to protect Defense workers from litigation if they file medical health claims for illnesses resulting from their exposure to radiation. Their ‘badge’ rating indicated that they did not receive dosage beyond the safety limit and yet they were prone to higher incidence of radiation related illnesses. Until legislation was enacted, the Defense department sued them if they filed a medical claim. In approving the legislation, Congress specifically stated that medical damage, to include cancer, can occur below the safety limit.
Reading the documentation coming out of Chernobyl, there are a host if illnesses which do not really lend themselves to disease names. It’s as if you took a very elaborate circut board (the human body) and disabled a few links so that a person can’t produce a little known, but required protein, or they can’t metabolize something they need to metabolize. Their immune system is damaged so they struggle more with routine illnesses etc. Most depressing was early dementia and accelerated aging - so that those working the Chernobyl cleanup were mentally and physically ‘older’ in terms of debility by the time they were in their 50’s.

No, actually we are talking about Japan accepting foreign help including workers and increased radiation protection.

We are also talking about TEPCO poorly maintaining and responding to retrofit requirements. Say, what if TEPCO had attended to the issue of their back up power supplies when told to do so? Wouldn’t that have reduced exposure rates for the workers...and the rest of the planet?

This refusal to accept ANY responsibility and to snarl at the public like we are ingrates when question is the hallmark of shoddy leadership prevalent in the nuke industry. AND THEY WANT THORIUM reactors because look how well their leadership has handled BWR.

There it is again, the snarled hint that the public are ingrates (all the while burning electricity).

The nuke industry always understates harm done. For years they denied that fatalities exceeded 46 people for Chernobyl. To this day you can’t get a nuke shill to admit the damage to human quality of life continues to unfold in the Ukraine - they act like they successfully washed their hands sparkling clean and have a clean record.
Was just reading up on another partial meltdown that occurred in CA in 1959 resulting in the release of radioactive gas over the San Fernando Valley (clean clean clean - you’ll never see the nuke shills admit to that!) Oh the 50 year roof that was eaten through in a day or two when 3 mile melted and released radiation (CLEAN! THEIR HANDS ARE CLEAN! They still deny responsibility). The nuke industry lacks a conscience so claiming the REAL problem is overstatement comes easily to them. Why there are nuke shills who act like Fukushima is over and no one was harmed. No harm, no foul...no truth in the nuke industry. Because the truth limits their ability to abuse the public trust and feel superior while doing it.

Why am I not surprised that you are distorting my comments?

I mentioned the medical evidence documented throughout the aftermath of Chernobyl; this information says what radiation does to the human body. So I am comparing the effects of nuclear power plant fuel on human tissue and morbidity to those we can expect anywhere else humans are exposed to the byproducts of nuclear fuel. You’d like to imply that this is an over the top Fukushima = Chernobyl claim when what I am saying is there is medical evidence that can be applied elsewhere because human tissue doesn’t care if the irradiation source is from one nuclear power plan or another.

Twice I compared denials/obfuscation used in Chernobyl (and the 1959 CA reactor, and the Three mile Island reactor) to denials/obfuscation used in Fukushima. The shoe fits. This is not lies and blatant exaggerations. The nuke industry likes to wash its hands of its failures by screaming “lies” “exaggerations” when people merely cite their miserable record of incompetence and deceit. You made your bed - you LIE in it.

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