Amid the heroic efforts of workers fighting the crisis at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, reports are emerging about the shoddy safety management of plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co.
Amid the heroic efforts of workers fighting the crisis at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, reports are emerging about the shoddy safety management of plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co.
Three workers were exposed to high doses of radiation at the turbine building for the No. 3 reactor. Two of them were taken to a Fukushima hospital before all three were transferred Friday to the National Institute of Radiological Sciences in Chiba.
"Safety management has long been lax at TEPCO's nuclear power plants," said a nuclear engineer who knows how TEPCO operates.
While stressing that he was referring to operations of nuclear power plants in the past, the engineer said, "Workers for subcontracting companies often just turned off the dose meter alarm when it went off and continued working."
The engineer explained, "The subcontracting companies have a quota they have to meet, and if the work is not finished in time, the company is penalized through a reduction in the amount contracted."
The engineer also brought up another example commonly found at TEPCO.
"In principle, workers never work by themselves. One worker always measures the radiation level and if it reaches a certain point, work is stopped. However, I was told by a worker for a subcontracting company that there were occasions when only one worker performed a task at TEPCO nuclear power plants," the engineer said.
Work continues at the Fukushima plant to prevent what could become a catastrophe.
A senior TEPCO official said: "With the emergency situation in which problems arise in succession, it has become like a war zone. I was worried that a radiation exposure accident could occur at one point."
According to the official and other TEPCO sources, procedures taken during normal operations, such as a roll call and confirmation of radiation levels, have often been forgotten as workers become engrossed in battling an emergency situation.
Moreover, many who are working around the clock to bring the nuclear power plant under control are suffering from reduced attention spans.
A former TEPCO employee who has remained in contact with a worker involved in restoring an outside power source to the Fukushima plant brought up more serious concerns.
"It appears that safety management of radiation can only be described as terrible," the former employee said.
The worker explained to the former employee what was going on at Fukushima:
Hydrogen explosions at the No. 1 and No. 3 reactors blew out almost all the windows in the three-storied clerical headquarters that contains the core functions for the Fukushima No. 1 plant. Radioactive materials have been blown into the damaged clerical building.
Blueprints of the reactors and other equipment needed to restore power were stored within the clerical building so they cannot be used. Documents had to be obtained from the offices of affiliated companies.
A number of locations within the plant site have turned into unexpected danger zones with high radiation levels.
Under normal circumstances, a radiation manager will accompany workers and measure radiation levels in areas where radiation danger is expected before the work is started.
Depending on the level of radiation found, the manager will give instructions to the workers to either enter the area to begin work, take protective measures before working or prohibit them from entering the area.
However, in dealing with the current situation, such detailed procedures have been deleted, in part because there are not enough workers.
Despite the dangers, many workers continue to toil at the plant because of a desire to restore the built-in cooling system as soon as possible.
A former TEPCO employee who has experience working at nuclear power plants questioned the company's explanation that the three workers were allowed to enter the turbine building because the work environment was no different from the previous day.
"Such a lax decision is unthinkable considering the current situation," the former employee said. "Radiation exposure accidents involving workers will only increase if there is no recognition that there is no safe place within the nuclear plant."