Japan Says 28 Plant Workers Got High Radiation Doses

[Hissyspit]

Source: Reuters

Japan says 28 plant workers got high radiation doses
VIENNA | Fri Apr 15, 2011 11:56am EDT

VIENNA (Reuters) - Japan has told the U.N. atomic agency that 28 nuclear workers have received high radiation doses as they battle to stabilize the stricken Fukushima Daiichi power plant.

Of the 300 people at the site, which was hit by an earthquake and tsunami a month ago, 28 have accumulated doses of more than 100 millisieverts (mSv), the International Atomic Energy Agency said, citing data from Japanese authorities.

"No worker has received a dose above Japan's guidance value of 250 mSv for restricting the exposure of emergency workers," the Vienna-based IAEA said Friday.

The average dose for a nuclear plant worker is 50 millisieverts over five years.

Read more: http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE73E58K20110415?irpc=932

[Poll_Blind]

1. Now would be a good time for the Japanese govt./TEPCO to offer free medical care for life to...

...all who risked theirs to save, oh, ya know, like this side of the planet or something.

Wouldn't that be cool?

Shit, throw in free dental. We should be springing for everything from radiation treatment to hairpieces, I don't give a shit. I'm OK with America chipping in out of my tax dollars. These people jumped into the furnace for all of us.

PB

[RC]

5. Health care is not a problem for the Japanese.

The health and the welfare system of Japan are important factors to consider before moving into this fast-growing nation. The general health care in Japan is not only provided free for every Japanese citizen but also for foreigners. Below are some essential and helpful facts and details about the health care in Japan, providing you anything and everything you need to know about the general health issues in Japan.

http://www.expatforum.com/articles/health/health-care-in-japan.html

[daleo]

2. They raised the limit to 250 from100

Since the crisis began. I'm sure that they can raise it again, if "safety" demands it.

[bongbong]

3. Yes!

It's the Free Market at work! It needed humans to adapt and be more radiation resistant .... and viola! It happened! :sarcasm:

Businessmen aren't too clever in figuring out ways to get the "poorest" 99% to slave & die for them. They just lie. Turns out TPTB are just greedy leeches, uncreative and lazy.

[AndyTiedye]

4. They Don't Really Know How Much Radiation Some Workers Got

Early on, they were sending teams in without dosimeters. Only the supervisors had them on some teams,
and they probably didn't go into the worst areas.

There are still workers who are taking them off.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x896005
http://news.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Asia/Story/A1Story20110414-273574.html

[caraher]

6. That can be a real problem (people removing them)

When I worked in nuclear medicine in a mixed research/clinical setting compliance could be spotty. I wore my dosimeter religously but the radiochemists were all over the map in their practices. The problem for them was that they tended to do a lot of manual work with hot samples so while their full-body doses were not large they often received large hand doses. One postdoc exceeded the quarterly hand dose limit and was prohibited from "hot" work until the next quarter.

His reaction to the enforced "radiation vacation" was to wear his ring dosimeters religiously "except when I'm working with something really hot" (his words). The calculation on his part was clear: lost time from work delayed his career, and a postdoc is not a stable job.

At Fukushima the motivations are very different, but it's not hard to imagine not only undocumented exposure as a result of the reported dosimeter shortage but also some people essentially volunteering to accept greater radiation exposure for the noblest of motives - sparing someone else.

[AndyTiedye]

7. It is Likely that Every Nuke Worker In Japan Will Exceed His Lifetime Dose Before This is Over