First Pictures Inside Fukushima Nuclear Plant Show Conditions for Heroic Workers
- Posted on March 23, 2011 at 11:53pm by
Scott Baker
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AP
Business Insider:
Inside the Fukushima Nuclear Plant, a small group of heroes is working to prevent meltdown.
There are 200 engineers, scientists and volunteers working in shifts of 50 at a time. The try to monitor explosions when escaped hydrogen gas combusts on contact with Oxygen.
These heroic workers are exposed to 100 – 200 millisieverts of radiation and face a high risk of death by radiation.
The glory, such as it is, for battling blazes and radiation leaks at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex has belonged to firefighters, soldiers and a corps of plant workers dubbed the Fukushima 50.
But much of the grinding grunt work of taming Japan’s worst nuclear accident has fallen to a less-visible group—hundreds of industry foot soldiers who support the effort by carrying pipes, clearing debris and performing other manual labor amid the threat of elevated radiation.
In normal times, thousands of workers perform routine tasks of reactor maintenance at the Fukushima Daiichi complex. Now, many of them are being called to volunteer to work, at standard pay, at the troubled plant.
“I’m scared,” says Kenji Tada, 29 years old, a worker at protective-coating specialist Tokai Toso Co. “But someone has to go.”
Read the rest here.
To see more of the pictures visit Business Insider here.
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Comments (67)
Cadcamtrainer
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 7:34amEvery time I see or read stories like this, I can’t stop comparing it to Katrina. The way the people of Japan have responded to this human tragedy versus the animals in New Orleans makes my blood boil. The ones in New Orleans stil call themselves “victims” and probably wil do so for the next 20 years. Haven’t seen any looting videos from Japan…..I downloaded a bunch of looting videos from New Orleans and Haiti…..what does that tells you. I bet the workers/Heroes at the nuke plant in Japan are NOT union workers either. If they were, they wouldn’t be near the plant
Report Post »In a Bunker
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 11:07amEver since Lyndon Johnson passed welfare in the 60‘s people have gotten the entitlement mentality and it’s getting worse. This is what you get when you give people things and they start to think they are owed everything. So, that’s what has happened – sad.
Report Post »peezee
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 6:39amThis is what adults look like. Take note “progressive” children.
Report Post »John 3:16
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 6:30amEvery day our Police officers, fire fighters and military risk their lives for us in even more dangerous situations, It’s just easy to forget them sometimes. They deserve our great admonition too, but sadly, Police officers get ridiculed by many.
Report Post »FactOrFiction
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 5:55amThis selfless act won’t be forgotten, they are making a difference and saving lives! God bless them all.
Report Post »pissed MARINE
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 5:45amObama “just plug the dam hole!”
Report Post »TXMD
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 5:09amJust returned from Jpaan after joining a large group of ER Physicians dealing with the emergency medical issues of the very brave people. The men working inside the nuclear plant are amazing heroes. Keep them in your prayers.
Report Post »kryptonite
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 7:30amYou are a hero too!
Report Post »Thomas Hargis
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 4:19amThey will NOT make it to full age at the exposure rates of avg. 450-600 ms/H NO WAY. God be with them and may thier final days be filled with joy and happiness. Please pray that they can finsh the task and get these Mark1 BWR reactors to a safe shutdown level
Report Post »kryptonite
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 7:27amWell, Thomas, those are good wishes. May God give them inner peace.
Report Post »Lord_Frostwind
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 3:01amTheir courage is to be applauded. They embody the noble spirit of their ancestors.
Report Post »BruceB
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:53amHey do they have access to illegal immigrants. They probably would do the work for a lot less.
Report Post »Just remember “Illegal immigrants do the work that others don’t want to”.
Salamander
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 10:14pmGreat idea! The ONLY problem with this is that careless, uninformed workers can really make a mess of things! In Japan, there was a situation in which low-skill or low-education or low-trained workers were mixing batches of liquid radioactive matter! These geniuses figured that it would go faster if they worked in larger batches–and the soup went critical–boom! It spattered the material all over and they are the proud recipients of The Darwin Award for that year! Handling nuclear material is a bit more complicated than opening a can of soup or stuffing a taco! It needs to handled with know-how and respect! And, if it is so handled, properly, it can do wonderful things, far beyond the comprehension of most of us! (We COULD understand it, but are too involved in living our lives to deal with the messy details!)
Report Post »MinorityRightsAdvocate
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:45amIt is tough work, and has danger, but the high risk of death for the levels mentioned here may be a bit extreme.
These levels might increase cancer risks, but death in not likely in the short term, and we may have a new drug that might be of great help, I have a link to that story in this piece as well as a running history on this which I try to keep up to date.
http://minorityrightsadvocate.wordpress.com/2011/03/13/anti-nuclear-groups-pounce-on-the-tragedy-in-japan-as-an-opportunity-to-shut-down-any-future-nuclear-power-development-but-is-this-attack-really-fair/
Report Post »Cherynn
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:39amBravery, Devotion, Selfessness.
Report Post »alshere
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:35amHave to say these guys have got a set and should go down in history as true heros of a special kind. Also what should be done with all the big mouths out there as to what is hppening and the solution is taking too much time should be reminded that these people in that building are as much as giving thier lives for the idiots who talk and don’t act.
Report Post »EyeSeeUyouSeeMe
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:31amIncredible. This is, by far, the most amazing act of kindness I have ever heard of. I am humbled. May all their hopes and dreams come true.
Report Post »campt1
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:28amGod Speed to these guys!
Report Post »WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:25amPeople throw around the word hero much too often. Rarely do we see what true heroism looks like. The group at Fukushima are such a rare example. People who understand there are some things more important than self preservation. They should be treated like royalty when this is over. No matter what, their perseverance reduced the eventual damage. We will never be able to measure it but that result might have been immeasurable. Great respect to these people and sympathy to the people of Japan for suffering this calamity
Report Post »Salamander
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 12:27amTalk about dedication and commitment!!! It is truly heroic for these folks to go back into the mess left by repeated explosions and fires to save their country, their fellow citizens and their industry! There will be MUCH to be learned from this! It is such a shame that the apparent cause of the mess is non-nuclear! When it’s all over, I’ll bet the problem is that with all the redundant sysems, the diesel fuel supply was one, big tank and that the agitation of the earthquake disturbed the settled solids which, after an hour’s full-load demand, clogged the filters on all the diesel equipment! No amount of weekly test runs would reveal this common-mode weakness in plant design and operation. In the future, a triple-redundant fuel supply would reduce the chance of a mishap of this magnitude to essentially zero!!! These guys shouldn’t have to work in the present conditions. It will be seen that the power plants survived the earthquake and tsunami, only to be brought down by something as simple as a disturbed, common fuel supply! Nuclear power IS safe! This is a once in a millineum accident scenario, and will be found to have been completely preventable! (Not trying to assign blame, only to identify issues and the frailty of man! This accident scenario WILL NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN!) One other thought is that these mega-plants are a bad idea–they should be dispersed so that no single failure can take out multiple plants! In France, their nuclear plants are located right in the middle of downtown, along the rivers! This eliminates transmission issues, isolates plants from one another and puts the risk at the points of consumption! Who is better motivated to secure the plants than the people that live next door?
Report Post »AzDebi
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 3:02amExcellent post! Thank You!
Report Post »J.C. McGlynn
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 3:33pmPlus the pumps are electric, power supply or the motors themselves possibly shorted.
Report Post »Either way, these people are fighting their own Sept.11 World Trade Tower scenario. N.Y. firefighters know what these guys are thinking/going through.
Salamander
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 9:47pmIf they shorted, they’d have probably gone down in the tsunami! This bothered me for awhile, as I read that ‘the pumps failed’ or ‘the generators’ failed AFTER running one hour! The tsunami hit within 15 minutes. I’m just guessing, and like in aircraft accidents, initial thoughts are often wrong. But, the fuel contamination issue that I suggest seems to cover all bases and I post it in the hope that rational people will see that the failure mode was non-nuclear, a possible design and logistical oversight when the focus was on ‘nuclear safety’ and that with this problem solved, we will NEVER see another accident like this one! Today, a lot of hoo ha about a couple of workers that stepped into a ‘hot’ puddle and got their clothes soaked with material emitting beta radiation. While medical attention IS warranted AND decontamination is prudent, beta radiation is used to treat bone and eye cancer and to measure the thickness of a web of paper in an industrial setting! This stuff is all around us and we should NOT be afraid of it! Treat it like the many other hazardous materials we work with every day–ever put gasoline in your car? You should see what a teaspoon of the stuff can do–boom!!! See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta_particle for discussion of alpha, beta and gamma radiation! Gosh, we simply MUST learn to work with the great wonders of the World and stop killing one another over oil or think that solar will replace nuclear! These plants are million horsepower machines–each!!! A 5kW solar system might cost $35,000, installed (tax rebates might lower it for the early-adopter, but SOMEONE is paying the subsidy, namely YOU, the taxpayer)! Assuming a 6-hour solar insolation day, it would take 4×300,000 or 1,200,000 such systems (cost $42 billion) to ‘simulate’ the output of just ONE of these plants! And, that is WITHOUT BATTERIES, which would be needed for storage to get through the night and cloudy days!!! You have to SEE one of these sites, look at just the generator rotor, to even BEGIN to appreciate this technology!!! Obama ‘visited’ a nuclear site early in his presidency–actually he visited IBEW local 26 (fossil guys) in Lanham, MD, while the TV’s showed file film of helicopters circling Calvert Cliffs (nuclear plant), 40 miles away!!! He has NEVER SEEN a nuclear plant! It’s all a pantomime, a fraud, all huff and puff and NO EXPERIENCE, WHATSOEVER! As they say down in Bush country, this man is “Big Hat, No Cattle”, but has a Teleprompter view (written by someones else) on everything! The press and those with an anti-nuclear or green agenda USE this situation to push their irresponsible views on a frightened public! Nuclear is the perfect boogey-man–you can’t see it, you can’t feel it, but it can bite you!!! But, everybody knows what the Sun feels like! (Hmmm, isn’t the Sun, er, nuclear?) Thanks for reading my rants!
Report Post »ANewActivist
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 12:26amDo I admire the magnificent 50? You bet. But I really believe that most of us would step up to this terrible task under similar circumstances. Right? Wrong?
Report Post »AzDebi
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 12:26am“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for a friend”…
Report Post »Beachplum
Posted on March 25, 2011 at 1:37pmAmen!
Report Post »CanteenBoy
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 12:23amI am glowing with admiration for these heroes!
Report Post »Trey Plunket
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 12:19amCan we get radiation poisoning from looking at these photos?
Report Post »WestOfThePecos
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 12:17amI haven’t heard of any death from radiation yet. I hope these guys are not the first.
Report Post »ChellesVikes82
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 12:13amWow, my admiration & prayers go out to these workers!
Report Post »UlyssesP
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 12:12amThose crybaby union WI losers would not have the courage to this job. Hats off to these workers.
Report Post »lillianrose
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 12:03amGod bless these men!
Report Post »82dAirborne
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 12:20am& women.
Report Post »Robert-CA
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 12:40amYep GOD Bless them all .
Report Post »crackerone
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 6:44amDitto’s!
Report Post »conservativeme
Posted on March 23, 2011 at 11:55pmHaving worked in nuclear plants, I can tell you that these guys are to be admired!
Report Post »Stoic one
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 12:02amThey have my applause and admiration
Report Post »banjarmon
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 12:03amThese guys have my RESPECT…Risking life to save lives.
Report Post »Gold Coin & Economic News
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 12:08amI hope they get some kind of monument or something because I doubt the people will make it to old age.
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 12:15amGod watch over them all, in this life and the next to come; heros are made when common people rise to the need to do uncommon deeds.
Report Post »82dAirborne
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 12:18amHaving NOT worked in a plant like this I can tell you these people are to be respected. I am not easily impressed. Everyone of these folks is impressive. Brave.
Report Post »walkwithme1966
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 12:24amThey have my prayers and so do the people of Japan. http://wp.me/pYLB7-MH
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 12:43amI’m slack-jawed. They have my respect and admiration. And they have my prayers. How courageous and dedicated!
Report Post »joseph Fawcett
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 12:54amMay God have mercy and Bless these people. There is no greater love than to lay down your life for another. This is what these people are doing. May we learn and be inspiried by them and thank God for them. The Japaniese people are showing us how it is really done! Thank you Lord!
http://www.josephfawcettart.com western artist
Report Post »GONESURFING
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:11amYes, God bless them and protect them, for they have a very difficult and dangerous job to do.
Report Post »kryptonite
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 3:48amAt Chernobyl the workers in charge of the cleanup were called liquidators. Some were forced to do the job. Most were nervous, but were never told of the real hazards of radiation exposure. They too sacrificed for country but were forgotten by a corrupt world system.
There are dissenting voices in the scientific community whose studies have shown that LOW levels of radiation cause birth defects in unborn babies:
==> “…the World Health Organization says mental retardation, behavioral problems, and nervous disorders have increased among kids born in contaminated areas. Meanwhile, Japanese researchers report a doubling of birth defects in Belarus, and today in Ukraine nearly 1 child in 5 dies before or soon after birth. Many couples can’t conceive at all. Research conducted by the Ukrainian Institute of Reproductive Medicine shows that young Ukrainian men have the lowest sperm counts and the highest infertility rate in the world.”
http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.html?programID=96-P13-00014&segmentID=1
Why is it wacky to believe that a fetus can be affected by low levels of radiation? If these studies are true, it is a real cause for concern, both here and in Japan. I am reposting the following website for those of you who wish to check out the findings.
http://nuclear-news.info/2010/01/02/low-level-radiation-and-birth-deformities/
Several months after the Chernobyl meltdown, Valery Legasov, the brilliant Soviet scientist who headed the investigation into the accident admitted to his Soviet peers that he had not been candid with the international community: “I did not lie… but I did not tell the whole truth.” Two years later, on the anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, the troubled scientist hanged himself.
Report Post »http://www.mindfully.org/Nucs/Valery-Legasov-51-Chernobyl.htm
Enuff Zenuff
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 5:08amThese workers are the modern embodiment of the Samurai spirit – willing to risk, and even give, their life up to help their people.
Report Post »kryptonite
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 6:34amThanks to those who reported my post, and to the moderator who deleted it. Pray tell me, how does that make you different from Obama or any other commie?
Report Post »Anarchy_in_the_USA
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 6:55am“Now, many of them are being called to volunteer to work, at standard pay, at the troubled plant.”
“I’m scared,” says Kenji Tada, 29 years old, a worker at protective-coating specialist Tokai Toso Co. “But someone has to go.”
A lesson for all of us, there are still people out there that honor and their fellow human beings matter. While the union pigs continue to protest they aren’t getting their fair share, way to go.
Report Post »tower7femacamp
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 7:42amRadiation has reached Virginia
Report Post »http://www.whsv.com/health/headlines/Traces_of_Radiation_from_Japan_Found_in_Charlottesville_Air_118462414.html
very hard to find in the news
Media is trying to keep the lid on this.
Cemoto78
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 8:37amJust like our military men and women deserve all our admiration for their service, these workers in Japan are doing the same, putting their lives in jeopardy for their country and fellow citizens. God bless all of them.
Report Post »Avidmonkey
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 11:41amWhy hasn’t NASA or some other space agency donated some space suits for these people? Those have to be somewhat more protective of particle radiation, right?
Report Post »NeoFan
Posted on March 25, 2011 at 10:48amI have to laugh because I would regularly pick up more than 250mr (millirem) per two week job when I worked in the nuclear industry. My kids were born during this same time when I picked up 10000mr in a four year period. The levels they are talking about in Japan are very low in comparison.
Report Post »Once again the media is doing their level best to obscure the truth and fool the public into thinking that nuclear power is too dangerous to use.
Where are all the dead bodies from Radiation? How many died from Three Mile Island? 10,000? No not one single person died from that accident and there has yet to be a radiation related death from this incident. The level of ignorance surrounding this incident is mind blowing.
I guess when your fear mongering real casualties are not important. Just as long as the public gets the message that all nuclear power is bad then they can count their reporting as a success.
These plants are a 50 year old design and they survived a quake hundreds of times stronger than they were designed for. Wow. Now that is failure.