Increased number of workers exposed to higher doses

May 10, 2015

Fukushima No. 1 workers exposed to high radiation surged 1.5-fold in 2014

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/05/10/national/fukushima-1-workers-high-radiation-doses-1-5-fold/#.VU-3iJPwmic

JIJI

The number of workers exposed to high radiation at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 power plant in fiscal 2014 has grown 1.5-fold from the year before, data from Tokyo Electric said Saturday.

A total of 992 workers, mostly those employed by subcontractors, saw their doses top 20 millisieverts in the year ended in March. The previous year, the number of workers with such high exposure levels stood at 660, according to the data.

Since the five-year radiation limit for Fukushima No. 1 workers is 100 millisieverts per person, many could be barred from working at the plant.

The yearly limit for decontamination workers stands at 50 millisieverts, according to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry.

Of those who topped the 20-millisievert level in 2014, only 11 are from Tepco, with 981 from subcontractors. The highest doses logged were 29.5 millisieverts among Tepco’s staff and 39.85 millisieverts among the subcontractors.

The data also showed that 20,695 plant workers were exposed in fiscal 2014, with doses averaging 4.99 millisieverts. That’s higher than the 14,746 exposed in the previous year, but lower in terms of dosage, which averaged 5.25 millisieverts in 2013.

The jump in exposures was partly attributable to an overall increase in workers at the plant since the previous year.

A public relations official at Tokyo Electric Power Co., which runs the meltdown-hit plant, said the amount of decontamination and debris-removal work in high-radiation zones there is also rising.