Japan's 'nuclear gypsies' face radioactive peril at power plants
source: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-japan-nuclear-gypsies-20111204,0,347252....
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Besides making a huge profit, the "nuclear gypsies" set-up is a great way for the Japanese government and Tepco to maximize their use of these disposable workers.
"Nuclear gypsies," or the contracted, subcontracted, and subsubcontracted workers that do over 80% of the work at the nuclear power plants, only work at a NPP until they have reached their maximum yearly radioactive dosage, at which time they are laid off.
These "nuclear gypsies" then move on to the next NPP, which does not ask what exposure they have had previously in that year. This allows these workers to be exposed to many, many times more radioactivity than is allowed.
Because the exposure of contracted workers is not tracked from plant to plant, over years, when the physical damage of radioactivity exposure begins to show up in the way of cancers and other diseases, the workers have no way to prove their medical issues are due to radioactivity exposure at Japanese NPPs.
The system is constructed such that, about the time they are no longer suited for back-breaking labor of all such contracted work (nuclear and other), the exposure to radioactivity at plants like Fukushima will have started to take their toll.
Therefore, they will not be able to seek payment from Tepco for their cancers and other radioactivity-related diseases.
Tepco and its investors will NEVER be charged for the TRUE price--including long-term medical issues from its contracted workers--for the nuclear energy enjoyed by Japan.
Thinking of the price the "nuclear gypsies" have paid and will have to pay for it, I certainly view the bright lights of Toyko very differently after reading this article.
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JAPAN'S 'NUCLEAR GYPSIES' FACE RADIOACTIVE PERIL AT POWER PLANTS
(http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-japan-nuclear-gypsies-201112...)
Unskilled contractors make up most of the workforce and face higher doses of radiation than utility employees at Fukushima and other nuclear power plants in Japan.
Reporting from Namie, Japan—
(excerpts of article)
Kazuo Okawa's luckless career as a "nuclear gypsy" began one night at a poker game.
The year was 1992, and jobs were scarce in this farming town in the shadow of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant....
...He became what's known in Japan as a "jumper" or "nuclear gypsy" for the way he moved among various nuclear plants. But the nickname that Okawa disliked most was burakumin, a derisive label for those who worked the thankless jobs he and others performed....
...Solicited from day labor sites across the country, many contractors are told little of the task ahead....
...After an earthquake-triggered tsunami deluged the Fukushima plant in March, a disaster that cascaded into reactor core meltdowns, activists are calling for better government regulation of what they call the nuclear industry's dirtiest secret.
For decades, they say, atomic plants have maintained a two-tiered workforce: one made up of highly paid and well-trained utility employees, and another of contractors with less training and fewer health benefits.
Last year, 88% of the 83,000 workers at the nation's 18 commercial nuclear power plants were contract workers, according to Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, a government regulator....
...A study by the Citizens' Nuclear Information Center, a Tokyo-based watchdog group, found that contractors last year accounted for 96% of the harmful radiation absorbed by workers at the nation's nuclear power plants. ...
...Okawa, a small man with powerfully built hands, said contractors knew they faced layoff once they reached exposure limits, so many switched off dosimeters and other radiation measuring devices.....
...Since the start of Japan's nuclear boom in the 1970s, utilities have relied on temporary workers for maintenance and plant repair jobs, while providing little follow-up health training, activists say.
"Typically, these workers are only told of the dose they get from an individual or daily exposure, not the cumulative dose over the time they work at a particular plant," said Shrader-Frechette. "As they move from job to job, nobody is asking questions about their repeated high doses at different sites. We're calling for a nuclear dosage tracking system in Japan and other nations"....
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"Nuclear gypsies," or the contracted, subcontracted, and subsubcontracted workers that do over 80% of the work at the nuclear power plants, only work at a NPP until they have reached their maximum yearly radioactive dosage, at which time they are laid off.
These "nuclear gypsies" then move on to the next NPP, which does not ask what exposure they have had previously in that year. This allows these workers to be exposed to many, many times more radioactivity than is allowed.
Because the exposure of contracted workers is not tracked from plant to plant, over years, when the physical damage of radioactivity exposure begins to show up in the way of cancers and other diseases, the workers have no way to prove their medical issues are due to radioactivity exposure at Japanese NPPs.
The system is constructed such that, about the time they are no longer suited for back-breaking labor of all such contracted work (nuclear and other), the exposure to radioactivity at plants like Fukushima will have started to take their toll.
Therefore, they will not be able to seek payment from Tepco for their cancers and other radioactivity-related diseases.
Tepco and its investors will NEVER be charged for the TRUE price--including long-term medical issues from its contracted workers--for the nuclear energy enjoyed by Japan.
Thinking of the price the "nuclear gypsies" have paid and will have to pay for it, I certainly view the bright lights of Toyko very differently after reading this article.
----------------------------
JAPAN'S 'NUCLEAR GYPSIES' FACE RADIOACTIVE PERIL AT POWER PLANTS
(http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-japan-nuclear-gypsies-201112...)
Unskilled contractors make up most of the workforce and face higher doses of radiation than utility employees at Fukushima and other nuclear power plants in Japan.
Reporting from Namie, Japan—
(excerpts of article)
Kazuo Okawa's luckless career as a "nuclear gypsy" began one night at a poker game.
The year was 1992, and jobs were scarce in this farming town in the shadow of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant....
...He became what's known in Japan as a "jumper" or "nuclear gypsy" for the way he moved among various nuclear plants. But the nickname that Okawa disliked most was burakumin, a derisive label for those who worked the thankless jobs he and others performed....
...Solicited from day labor sites across the country, many contractors are told little of the task ahead....
...After an earthquake-triggered tsunami deluged the Fukushima plant in March, a disaster that cascaded into reactor core meltdowns, activists are calling for better government regulation of what they call the nuclear industry's dirtiest secret.
For decades, they say, atomic plants have maintained a two-tiered workforce: one made up of highly paid and well-trained utility employees, and another of contractors with less training and fewer health benefits.
Last year, 88% of the 83,000 workers at the nation's 18 commercial nuclear power plants were contract workers, according to Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, a government regulator....
...A study by the Citizens' Nuclear Information Center, a Tokyo-based watchdog group, found that contractors last year accounted for 96% of the harmful radiation absorbed by workers at the nation's nuclear power plants. ...
...Okawa, a small man with powerfully built hands, said contractors knew they faced layoff once they reached exposure limits, so many switched off dosimeters and other radiation measuring devices.....
...Since the start of Japan's nuclear boom in the 1970s, utilities have relied on temporary workers for maintenance and plant repair jobs, while providing little follow-up health training, activists say.
"Typically, these workers are only told of the dose they get from an individual or daily exposure, not the cumulative dose over the time they work at a particular plant," said Shrader-Frechette. "As they move from job to job, nobody is asking questions about their repeated high doses at different sites. We're calling for a nuclear dosage tracking system in Japan and other nations"....
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