Fukushima worker dies after falling into water storage tank
Source: Reuters
A worker at Japan's destroyed Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant died on Tuesday after falling inside a water storage tank, the latest in a spate of industrial accidents at the site of the March 2011 nuclear disaster, the world's worst since Chernobyl.
The death is the second in Fukushima in less than a year. Last week, labor inspectors warned the operator of the plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co., about the rise in accidents and ordered it to take measures to deal with the problem.
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Most workers inside the plant are contract laborers hired by multiple layers of construction companies. A Reuters investigation in 2013 found widespread labor abuses, including workers who said their pay was skimmed and that there was little scrutiny of working conditions at the plant.
"It's not just the number of accidents that has been on the rise. It's the serious cases, including deaths and serious injuries that have risen so we asked Tokyo Electric to improve the situation," said Katsuyoshi Ito, a local labor inspector overlooking the Fukushima power plant.
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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/20/us-japan-fukushima-labor-idUSKBN0KT05K20150120
bananas
(27,509 posts)Two workers die at separate Fukushima nuclear plants: Operator
By AFP | 20 Jan, 2015, 11.30AM IST
TOKYO: A worker at Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant died today after falling into a water tank, the country's nuclear operator said, the second fatal accident to blight efforts to stabilise the tsunami-battered facility.
Separately today, another worker died because of an incident at the Fukushima Daini nuclear power plant, which is located several kilometres (miles) south of the damaged plant, operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) said.
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Elmer S. E. Dump
(5,751 posts)Instead of from radiation, which is a slow, excruciatingly painful way to go.
Judi Lynn
(160,545 posts)May Japan form laws which do protect workers.
Sounds like a soulless, rapacious system, which does need reform, regardless of how many at the top are making fortunes from it.
Stephen Retired
(190 posts)Sopkoviak
(357 posts)Brandon Carl, 35, of Augusta, Kentucky, died when the Hopple Street overpass bridge suffered a "catastrophic pancake" collapse, according to the Hamilton County Coroner's office.
Maybe before we point fingers at Japan we ought to take care of our own problems.
http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2015/01/19/bridge-collapse-75-south/22031429/
ProudToBeBlueInRhody
(16,399 posts)You're welcome.
Posting a story isn't "pointing fingers". And I think we can all walk and chew gum at the same time.
Journeyman
(15,036 posts)Come now, what could possibly be wrong at a plant like this:
daleo
(21,317 posts)For one it says radiation wasn't a factor. For the other two, it doesn't say one way or another.
FBaggins
(26,748 posts)The article talks of two deaths at the Daichi plant in the past year. One when a worker fell 10 meters into an empty tank and one where a worker was crushed by gravel when a ditch he was digging collapsed. It would take quite an imagination to come up with a way for radiation to be a factor (not that such... hmmm... "creativity" is entirely lacking on DU).
A third incident (not reported here as a death, but perhaps elsewhere) explicitly said that radiation was not involved.
daleo
(21,317 posts)Well, radiation sickness can weaken the body, with accidents resulting. Not saying that happened - just pointing out that they didn't say anything about radiation one way or another, in regards to the first two deaths. Given the particular conditions under which the work was being carried out, I would have expected a reassurance about that.
Huge radiation spike detected at Fukushima plant Multiple records set near workers trying to stop nuclear waste flowing into ocean Cesium up 7,500% this week
Fukushima released 13,000,000,000 times more neutrons than initially estimated Obvious implication for human health Govt: Neutron radiation is the most severe and dangerous radiation known to mankind; Can travel great distances
TV: Its like a scene from a horror movie along West Coast Were seeing all sorts of mysterious goings-on There is no food out there Scientists cant figure out why theres mass starvation of seabirds This is a really serious thing A species die-off is always unsettling (VIDEO)
TV: Hawaii coral the worst scientists have ever seen Professor: Its like a ghost town We would not typically see entire colonies bleached, ever Govt map of maximum bleaching alert area in Pacific mirrors Fukushima plume model since 2011 (VIDEO)
Sea creatures sick, dying or disappearing at alarming rate all along Pacific coast Some wonder if its fallout from Fukushima New York Times: Ocean Life Faces Mass Extinction Study: We may be on precipice of major extinction event in marine wildlife (VIDEO)
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