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Teenagers working with Fukushima radioactive waste

Published: January 14th, 2013 at 11:06 am ET
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Excerpts from: Worker: Decontamination shoddy
Source: Kyodo
Date: Jan. 14, 2013

  • Contractors commissioned by the central government to decontaminate areas tainted by the Fukushima nuclear disaster lack the knowhow or manpower to handle the unprecedented work, one of the workers said.
  • The worker, a 60-year-old man from Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, said: “Theories and experience in the field are different. It’s something no one has experienced before. No one knows how it should be done, exactly.”
  • Around 10 men and women, ranging from teenagers to those in their 60s, and with different professional backgrounds, work together.
  • Some do not even seem to know the basics, including the need to wear a helmet and protective footwear. Many apparently work around the contaminated areas in regular boots.
  • There is no mention of how to decontaminate the other wooded areas that cover 70 percent of Fukushima Prefecture, suggesting the project itself will have extremely limited remedial effect.

See also: Group with SAM 940 isotope identifier detected high levels of Plutonium-239 near Iwaki a month after quake -- 50km south of Fukushima Daiichi -- Found at multiple locations (MAP & VIDEO)

Published: January 14th, 2013 at 11:06 am ET
By
Email Article Email Article
33 comments

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January 14th, 2013 | Category: Japan (Fukushima)
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33 comments to Teenagers working with Fukushima radioactive waste

  • weeman
    January 14, 2013 at 11:56 am

    In my humble position you are only exposing people to radiation unnecessary and decontamination is a waste of time and money untill you stop the leak of radioactive isotopes from the three rouge reactors recontaminating the environment and even if leaks are stopped how can you remove all the contaminant from the soil and environment.
    In the future would you be comfortable to live in prefect, not likely, would you be comfortable to swim in the ocean, drink the water, eat the food, breath the air.


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  • dosdos dosdos
    January 14, 2013 at 12:03 pm

    Pipe dream making a few fat cat contractors even richer at the expense of those they hire for less pay than due for such hazardous work.


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  • ForwardAssist ForwardAssist
    January 14, 2013 at 12:33 pm

    Bingo, it's a feel good measure which is ineffective. It only suceeds in transferring wealth from the Japanese taxpayers and exposing more workers to radiation fields.


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  • Pu239 Pu239
    January 14, 2013 at 1:20 pm

    We seem to be hell bent on poisoning one another.

    It's like a strange dream, or nightmare, where the forces of evil succeed in finally contaminating everyone on the planet in the name of some ostensibly utopian "-ism".

    Life is supposedly getting better and better with the standard of living raised in some countries, but is a raised standard of living a better life? [I do wonder].

    Heavy smog in Beijing prompts uncharacteristic government transparency
    While welcomed by residents and environmentalists, Beijing's new openness about smog also put more pressure on the government to address underlying causes.

    By Christoper Bodeen and Gillian Wong, Associated Press / January 14, 2013
    http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Latest-News-Wires/2013/0114/Heavy-smog-in-Beijing-prompts-uncharacteristic-government-transparency


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  • PhilipUpNorth PhilipUpNorth
    January 14, 2013 at 1:26 pm

    "There is no mention of how to decontaminate the other wooded areas that cover 70 percent of Fukushima Prefecture, suggesting the project itself will have extremely limited remedial effect."
    The government has no plans or resources to devote to the decontamination of Japan's mountains and forests. In some cases, officials have limited decontamination to the area immediately around the radiation dection stations, keeping reported radiation levels artifically low.
    This extends to most or all of Japan, which is still being heavily contaminated with Fukushima radiation.
    Even fields, roads, and public places outside of Fukushima prefecture are not being decontaminated.
    Indeed, loads of contaminated material from Fukushima are being hauled to other prefectures for incineration. The radiation from incineration spreads fallout over the countryside.
    Radioactive ash from the incinerators is being dumped into local landfills, and into Tokyo Bay.
    Contaminated food is being sold far and wide, with just an "oops" coming from the Government when the contamination is discovered.
    "Support By Eating" campaigns spread additional radiation among a population, which has been breathing and living with radioactive fallout for the better part of two years.
    One of the largest contractors for the decontamination effort is a nuclear plant construction company.
    Each of these points has been reported and discussed in detail on ENEnews.
    "Extremely limited remedial…


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  • PhilipUpNorth PhilipUpNorth
    January 14, 2013 at 1:28 pm

    (Con'd). "Extremely limited remedial effect" indeed.

    Sorry about that. Wordcount sometimes throws you a curve ball.


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  • m a x l i
    January 14, 2013 at 1:33 pm

    Again, I'm wondering what the big plan is? Where is the removed soil and tainted water to end up, if done properly? Always only "temporary storage sites" are mentioned. Where is the final storage site? Are they planning to build a fifth main island besides Japan consisting of plastic bags filled with contaminated soil? Or are they planning to send it to the moon?

    Does the impossible and therefor automatically shoddy decontamination serve the purpose to shift the blame for the radioactive contamination of the whole of Japan and more and everything that follows afterwards away from nuclear industry+TEPCO+government towards little contractors+workers?

    The "temporary storage sites" are somewhat pathologic for the nuclear industry, aren't they? For every waste problem find a "temporary" solution and let later generations deal with it!


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  • Mack Mack
    January 14, 2013 at 1:45 pm

    What I surmise from the article is —> the situation is hopeless.

    They can never decontaminate it, and they know it.

    They took money from the taxpayers knowing decontamination was all a show.

    Dig it up here, move it over there, burn it over here which spreads it over there, dump the water here where it flows over there.

    Using teenagers, the elderly, with no instructions, no guidebook, no experience…

    It's fraud and it's crazy.


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    • m a x l i
      January 14, 2013 at 2:00 pm

      It's criminally insane and it's insanely criminal.


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      • or-well
        January 14, 2013 at 2:09 pm

        It's fraud
        and it's crazy,
        insane and criminal,
        overt and covert,
        in-you-face and subliminal,
        subversive, coersive,
        perverted, rehearsed,
        power and profit,
        chapter and verse,
        it's TEOTWAKI
        and probably worse.


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      • PurpleRain
        January 15, 2013 at 2:37 am

        You know… I've known many different types of people from many different fields of study and different careers and occupations.. including friends who are physicist, friends who continuously study and work at MIT, friends who are fabulously smart irobot-type programmers, etc, etc. and even a couple who actually do work for NASA … and it is so Hugely frustrating when they can be so fu$king stupid! I truly just do not understand it, how some people can be so blind and so dumb. (Hell, I know when I can be dumb…. so… why don't they know it)!


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    • HoTaters HoTaters
      January 15, 2013 at 1:38 am

      Reminds me of the Richard Pryor movie, where he's pretending to move tires around in a junkyard, when he thinks his boss is watching. I can't find the move title. Does anyone remember what it was? Hilarious. Probably the funniest thing I've ever watched. Sometimes you've got to inject humor when the situation seems hopeless.


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      • HoTaters HoTaters
        January 15, 2013 at 1:51 am

        The comment about Richard Pryor's movie scene, in reply to Mack's comment about the apparent hopelessness of decontamination. Yeah, boys, let's just go pretend to go and move some of them tires around out in the parkin' lot, awhile.

        In the movie, Richard Pryor wasn't really moving anything physical. He had just developed an elaborate stunt which, when seen from the waist up, gave the appearance of hard physical labor.


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        • PurpleRain
          January 15, 2013 at 2:43 am

          Reminds me of all the "beautification details" that I used to get assigned to doing as a private in the Army. Okay. Grab a platoon. Give them some white paint or some blue paint ot whatever the extra-color-paint of the day or the month was…and assign us all to go police up cigarette butts and paint rocks to make them look "beautiful" and presentable. But somehow, I don't think all those contaminated plastic bags of dirt make the Japanese countryside look "pretty,"


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          • PattieB PattieB
            January 15, 2013 at 3:04 pm

            When I was in the Army… we were in sand of coarse. The get gravel, cover the sand. This causes water to be held… so weeds grow as one would expect. They would hold the soil better than gravel does, yet we then had to go pull-out the weeds! Why didn't they use a barrier under it? Why not let the stuff grow? Where are their brains!?

            They got REALLY upset with ME! I'm not stupid! I went and rented a weed whacker! Job took about 20 min, with no need to kneel-pull stuff up for hours in the 103 deg sun!!


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  • Time Is Short Time Is Short
    January 14, 2013 at 1:57 pm

    "Using teenagers, the elderly, with no instructions, no guidebook, no experience…"

    How about the US government having all the 'Save Our Beaches' organizations, such as the Surfrider Foundation and others, send all ages of kids down to the beach to pick up radioactive debris from Japan, swimming in the radioactive water when they need to 'refresh' from the activity?

    There will be many children lost to their nuclear insanity, across the world.


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  • Mack Mack
    January 15, 2013 at 11:59 am

    "Paying Just $11 a Day, Subcontractors Ripping Off Fukushima Nuclear Accident Decontamination Workers"

    http://en.rocketnews24.com/2013/01/15/paying-just-11-a-day-subcontractors-ripping-off-fukushima-nuclear-accident-decontamination-workers/

    Eleven dollars a day!


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    • m a x l i
      January 15, 2013 at 12:51 pm

      Nuclear industry workers – too cheap to meter!

      From reading the article, I'm not sure if the "danger pay" (or what is left of it, after subcontractors had their hands on it) is all they get, or if the danger pay comes on top of a "normal" pay – not mentioned in the article. Would there really anyone be working for 11$ a day?

      But it is shocking how the subcontractors simply get away with making huge profits by deducting fictive rent for accommodation which is already paid for by the government, a.k.a. the tax-payer.


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  • Johnny Blade Johnny Blade
    January 15, 2013 at 2:13 pm

    Revolution in their minds – the children start to march
    Against the world in which they have to live
    And all the hate that's in their hearts
    They're tired of being pushed around
    And told just what to do
    They'll fight the world until they've won
    And love comes flowing through

    Children of tomorrow live in the tears that fall today
    Will the sun rise up tomorrow bringing peace in any way?
    Must the world live in the shadow of atomic fear?
    Can they win the fight for peace or will they disappear?

    So you children of the world,
    Listen to what I say
    If you want a better place to live in
    Spread the words today
    Show the world that love is still alive
    You must be brave
    Or you children of today are
    Children of the Grave, Yeah!


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