Japan Press Weekly

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2012 October 31 - November 6 TOP3 [LABOR]

Ex-Fukushima plant worker accuses employer

A former subcontract worker exposed to radiation at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant filed a complaint on November 1 with a labor standards inspection office against his employer.

The 46-year-old worker accused Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the plant operator, and subcontractor Kandenko of violating the Industrial Safety and Health Law because both companies neglected to take measures to prevent workers from being exposed to radiation.

The man and several other workers were instructed to lay cables to turn on a light in the turbine building of the No.3 reactor at the crippled plant on March 24 last year, about 10 days after the explosion. Though a dosimeter alarm was ringing loudly, a Kandenko foreman ignored that, saying, “It’s just broken!” They were forced to do the work more than 5 times in ankle-deep water which was highly contaminated with radioactivity. The worker was exposed to radiation of about 20 millisieverts.

Another group working in the plant at the same time evacuated the site immediately after they found the radiation level was an extremely high 400 millisieverts per hour.

The whistle-blower argued that the subcontractor should have stopped the work immediately to avoid the risk of excessive exposure.

The man said at a news conference, “I want TEPCO and subcontractors to improve the working environment so that employees can work to control the accident and decommission the plant without anxiety.” He also pointed out that the subcontractor failed to conduct periodic medical checkups and health monitoring of its workers.

Minaguchi Yosuke, the complainant’s lawyer, stressed the obligation for TEPCO and Kandenko to uncover the extent of workers’ exposure to radiation and to keep them in good health.

Japanese Communist Party member of the Iwaki City Assembly in Fukushima Prefecture Watanabe Hiroyuki participated in the conference.