On Thursday three workers were exposed to high levels of radiation inside Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. The next day, the three were sent to the National Institute of Radiological Sciences in Chiba to undergo advanced emergency treatment. The accident raises concern that Tepco's attitude toward ensuring worker safety is not adequate for the tasks of dealing with a highly dangerous situation. The exposure also hints of a leak from molten nuclear fuel.
The three — two from Kandenko Co., a Tepco subcontractor, and a third from a subcontractor of Kendenko — were laying an electric cable in a turbine building next to the No. 3 reactor, standing in about 15 centimeters of water. The concentration of radioactive substances in the water turned out to be about 10,000 times normal. The three suffered accumulated radiation of 173 to 180 millisieverts — above the conventional limit of 100 millisieverts for an emergency but below the 250-millisievert limit set by the health ministry to cope with the Fukushima No. 1 crisis.
Although the Kandenko subcontractor worker was wearing long boots, the boots of the Kandenko workers were only ankle high. Water entered the boots and soaked their feet, apparently causing burns from beta rays.