Fukushima Workers Speak Out: We hide accidents at plant — CNN: Health is suffering — CBS: Radioactive materials “just pour right in” after cleanup
Le Monde, Oct. 16, 2013: […] Our meeting with one of the “liquidators” of Fukushima’s power plant takes place in a discreet location, out of sight. Talking to journalists is risky, and the man’s nervous employers could use it as a pretext to fire him. “It’s the same thing for workplace accidents – there’s a collective solidarity,” he says. “If it isn’t too serious, we hide them to avoid problems with the social insurance.” […] “The quality of work is mediocre because the management asks us to work fast, but the guys aren’t experienced enough,” explains the supervisor of a radioactivity inspection company, in charge of about 50 workers. “Sometimes they don’t even know the names of the tools […]” Bad all along — These deficiencies partly explain the contaminated water leaks that have increased considerably over the last few months. The people we are speaking to start smiling. “The leaks? They’ve been there for a while, but no one talked about them.” […]
CBS Evening News, Oct. 21, 2013: Japan’s government was forced to admit this week that the radiation cleanup near the Fukushima nuclear plant is way behind schedule. […] a former worker told us it was a futile task. “We’d decontaminate around a house,” he said, “but if it rained, more contaminated earth from outside that perimeter would just pour right in.” He did not want to be identified because he feared he would not find work again. […] “Basically, they can’t recruit enough people,” [nuclear refugee Satoshi Kamata] said of the cleanup. […]
CNN, Oct. 21, 2013: […] this worker at the Fukushima nuclear power plant tells CNN he is not treated well. He believes that if he complains, he will be fired. Hiding his identity as workers are forbidden to talk to the media, he tells me he works 300 meters from the tank where a toxic water leak was discovered in August. “We only know the facts when we got home,” he claims. “Watching TV news and reading the newspapers the next day. There is no explanation about what is happening and how dangerous it might be.” […] “It’s simple,” [a man worked as a subcontractor at the plant immediately after the 2011 disaster] tells me. “Excessive cost-cutting is making workers suffer in terms of payments and health.” […]
