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

It's the duty and responsibility of any company to ensure that all workers, whether they are direct employee's or contract labor, are carrying out their work in accordance with health and safety rules.

When a company fails in it's capacity to monitor all work activity then it can be held responsible for the failure of not working in accordance with health and safety. Under normal circumstances, a gov't agency would not be monitoring the activities of a company.

I don't know if NISA officials are on site and whether that would be normal. They are at the Oi plant, but I think that is because of the political sensitivity of starting the reactors.

The only way to ensure that TEPCO is meeting all of it's health and safety commitments is by monitoring all the work force at the atomic plant. There are a very wide range of issues that TEPCO needs to resolve.

Nuclear gypsies and day laborers don't usually have much of an educational level, probably some can't even read. They approach a warning sign stating not to procedure beyond that point because of high radiation levels?

The contract workers must be treated in the same way as workers of TEPCO, and the the other expert workers who have been spent there from the other power companies, and foreign firms.

The spent fuel assemblies removed from No4 spent fuel pool was carried out by Hitachi workers, and not TEPCO. The are also French and American engineers working at the site.

All workers, except those nuclear gypsies and day laborers, arrive on site and proceed to a reception or arrival building which also acts has a day center for those workers. They can collect clean tyvek suits and face masks. They are monitored for radiation exposure every time they return. There are internal radiation measuring machines, toilets, resting places and places for eating food. TEPCO have taken measures to ensure the minimum amount of radiation is entering the building. There's ac in the building, much needed at this time of the year.

The picture for the nuclear gypsies and day laborers is a different one. They don their tyvek suits and face masks in Fukushima City, get on a bus and are transported out to the atomic plant. On arrival, they just proceed to their actual place of work. At the end of the shift, they get back on the bus and head back to Fukushima City. It's unclear if they are even given clean tyvek suits for the journey. TEPCO does not record their radiation exposure, which is, or suppose to be done, by the contractor who they are working for. They have very basic rest rooms, toilets and places to eat lunch. When starting work at the atomic plant, they are suppose to have some basic training in nuclear safety, but some of them told the media that don't happen.

These workers are at the bottom of this food chain.

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

For more, just Google "Japan's Nuclear Gypsies".

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.

smithinjapan, thank you!

All nuclear gypsies and day laborers working at any atomic plant should be issued with an "atomic plant passport" which carries a photo id and finger print. At the end of each shift, their radiation exposure is recored in the passport. Other details can be added, like health checks. The information is also kept on a DATA base and available to all the atomic power companies, so they can check the details of any new arrivals at their plants.

I see on my main comment, it went from a +3 to 0 in less than 5 minutes. I wonder who keeps doing that? Nonetheless it don't matter. People will still understand the truth and real facts.

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?

basroil,

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?

basroil

While some of these temp workers do wander from plant to plant, more likely wander from dangerous job to dangerous job locally.

Seems like you need to do more reading on the topic of "nuclear gypsies" it's well documented even before the nuclear disaster.

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.

Prior to the nuclear disaster, most of the TEPCO workers lived in Okuma near to the plant, which is now off limits. Many of the current TEPCO plant workers are living in a converted sports stadium, now called the J-Village. TEPCO originally built this stadium for the community. At the J-Village there's comfortable accommodation with single rooms and ac. Places to bath and do laundry. Shops to buy food and drinks. Welfare and health center. They are separated from their families who have moved to other parts of Fukushima, but they are doing better than many in Fukushima with an average salary of ¥7.5 million. On any one day at the plant there are about 350 TEPCO workers.

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.

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.

The post and events talks about about one company and 9/10 workers but I'm sure it's only the tip of an iceberg.

By using the system of nuclear gypsies, over the past four decades, the atomic power companies have saved trillions in labor costs and it was a system allowed by decades of the LDP gov't's who we know colluded with the nuke industry to the point that the so called nuke village were the power companies, atomic safety agencies and a large number of university people getting large research grants. A very cosy club that went belly up with the nuclear disaster and the revealing details from the Diet Commission which investigated the disaster.

basroil,

Japan doesn't document it, so without THIS information, all of your articles are worthless.....

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 even though that would be twice the allowable limit over 5 years, and 4 times the limit in any single year.

Please keep your comments civil.

The radiation level inside reactor buildings 1-3 is above 500 millisieverts per hour. The highest outdoor level I've seen recently reported was 300 microsieverts per hour.

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.

basroil,

The contract firms are receiving an average of ¥50,000 per day per worker. The nuclear gypsies and day laborers get ¥5,000 to ¥15,000 per day on average. The supervising staff at the contract companies get much more than that.

basroil,

I don't quote cancer risks because I don't know enough about it and there are experts on both sides of the argument when it comes to expose of less than 100 millisieverts per year.

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 believe that all surfaces are being sprayed with acrylic before being moved. 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.

But cancer from radiation is very different from the cancer from asbestos.

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?

basroil,

you are the one who raised the question of other dangerous chemicals which might cause cancers?

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.

They are covering debris with acrylic before moving it to prevent dust being released into the atmosphere. There may also be asbestos present at the plant.

So what volatile chemicals and fine particulates are you referring to? 

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.

SquidBert,

Thank you for the info

TEPCO will need tens of thousands of workers over the next 40+ years, in the nuclear disaster zone.

It's important that NISA fully investigates what is happening with the nuclear gypsies and other temp workers.

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.