TEPCO should incorporate measures to support workers in nuke plant roadmap

The Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant, hit hard by a massive tsunami generated by the March 11 earthquake, has managed to avoid catastrophe thanks to the efforts of workers who are trying hard to place the power station under control.

More than 40 days have passed since the plant was hit by the disaster, and workers' fatigue and stress have certainly reached an alarming level.

It is expected to take six to nine months before the plant can be placed under control, according to a roadmap released earlier this week by its operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO). However, it is feared that the work will actually take far longer. Photos taken by remote-controlled robots illustrate severe conditions in the buildings housing the crippled reactors.

Many of the workers are crying out for help. It is extremely important for TEPCO and the government to step up support for employees who are working hard under such severe conditions.

A doctor who inspected TEPCO employees working at the plant has revealed that they are forced to sleep at a gymnasium attached to the Fukushima No. 2 Nuclear Power Plant after working at the No. 1 plant. They cannot take a bath everyday and eat mostly canned and instant food. Furthermore, many of them have been evacuated from their home situated in disaster-hit areas or had their residences damaged, and are mentally distressed.

In this April 18, 2011 photo released Wednesday, April 20, 2011 by Ehime University Medical Department Prof. Takeshi Tanigawa, workers, mostly employees of Tokyo Electric Power Co., engaged in operations at the tsunami-damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant, take rest inside a gymnasium that serves as their temporary dormitory at Fukushima Dai-ni Nuclear Power Plant in Naraha, 14 kilometers (9 miles) south of the former plant in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. (AP Photo/Ehime University Medical Department Prof. Takeshi Tanigawa)

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http://mdn.mainichi.jp/perspectives/news/20110421p2a00m0na001000c.html


・Here are the latest reports on the quake victims in Japan.  
http://hearthevoicefromjapan.blogspot.com/

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・Save the Children, Japan quake victim
www.savethechildren.org/japanquake

・Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support Website

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Japan-Earthquake-Animal-Rescue-and-Support/207835229228979
OR;
http://japanearthquakeanimalrelief.chipin.com/japan-earthquake-animal-rescue-and-support/

・Japanese Red Cross
http://www.jrc.or.jp/english/relief/l4/Vcms4_00002070.html