4/13/2015

What'stheriskofworkersatJapannuclearplant?|Heroiceffortstopreventnuclearmeltdown|Japan&NuclearCrisis

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HeroicFukushimaWorkersFaceStaggeringRisks
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What'stheriskofworkersatJapannuclearplant?|Heroiceffortstopreventnuclearmeltdown|Japan&NuclearCrisis

byKatherineHarmon,LiveScienceContributor|March16,201103:59pmET

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Inalllikelihood,the
nuclearcrisisplaying
outinJapanwouldbe
farworseifnotfora
crewof50to100
workersbraving
explosions,heatand
radiation.Littlehas
beenwrittenor
reportedaboutthese
unnamedindividuals,
buttheirdeedsare
nothingshortofheroic.
Here,alookatthe
conditionstheyfaceas
theystruggletohold
offacatastrophe.
Theworkersaremost
likelycladinheavy
protectivesuitswith
ThishalfmeterresolutionsatelliteimagewastakenoftheFukushimaDaiichinuclearpower
breathingapparatuses,
plantthreedaysaftera9.0magnitudeearthquakestrucktheOshikaPeninsulaonMarch11,
saidMichaelMurray,a
2011.TheimagewastakenbytheGeoEye1satellitefrom423milesinspaceasitmovedfromnorthtosouth
professorofnuclear
overJapanataspeedoffourmilespersecond.
physicsatthe
Credit:GeoEye Viewfullsizeimage
UniversityofKansas.
Protectioncanbe
uncomfortable.Typically,"allskiniscovered,thickgloves,helmetsandsteeltoedboots.Ofcourse,theyall
haveindividualdosimeters,"MurraytoldLife'sLittleMysteries,asistersitetoLiveScience."Iremember
wearingthisstuffanditishotandirritating."
Heatisjustoneoftheproblemsofworkingalongsidethereactor.Newssourceshavesaidthatthenumberof
workerscyclingthroughthedamagedreactorhasbeenincreasedfrom50to100,andtheJapaneseHealth
Ministryraisedthemaximumradiationdosefortheworkersfrom100to250millisieverts(mSv).
JohnLee,aprofessorofnuclearengineeringattheUniversityofMichigan,saidthatacceptablelevelsof
radiationaretypicallymuchlower50mSvperyear"butthislimitmaybeexceededsomewhatin
emergencysituations."Itshouldbenoted,however,that250mSvisnotanunreasonablelevelofradiation.
Thatdoseequals25remanothermeasureofradiationandittakesadoseof500remtokillaperson.
Exposureto25remisstillalotundernormalcircumstances,butunderguidelinessetbytheU.S.Nuclear
RegulatoryCommission,theseworkersarenotriskingtheirlives.
KimKearfott,anotherprofessorofnuclearengineeringattheUniversityofMichigan,saidthereareaseveral
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What'stheriskofworkersatJapannuclearplant?|Heroiceffortstopreventnuclearmeltdown|Japan&NuclearCrisis

radiationcheckpointsinplacetoprotecttheworkers."Whenenteringareaswhereonemaybecome
contaminatedwithradionuclides,protectiveclothingiswornwhichcanberemoved.Theclothingbecomes
contaminated,andnottheperson."Thewhitesuitswillblockmostlowenergyalpharadiation,butnot
higherenergygammaradiation,suchasXrays.Tocounterthat,theworkerswouldneedtowearbulkylead
shieldingorshouldstandbehindobjects.Limitingexposuretimesisalsoeffective.
Ifhighamountsofairborneradioactivityarepresent,workersmaywearrespirators,orevencarrytheirown
airsuppliesontheirbackslikescubadivers."Thispreventstheradionuclidesfromenteringthebody,where
theycanremainandcontinuetoexposetheworkersevenaftertheyhaveleftthearea,"Kearfottsaid."There
arestationaryradiationdetectorsthroughouttheplant,aswellasportableradiationdetectorsthatcanbe
carriedaroundbyworkers.Therearealsowalkthroughmonitorstocheckforexternalcontamination."
Teameffort
Japanhasreportedlybeencyclingworkersthroughdangeroushighradioactivityareas,whichcanminimize
dangertothem."Theshorterthetotalamountoftimeatapointwithhighradiationdoserates,thesmallerthe
dose,"Kearfottsaid."Often,workersmayberotatedthroughajob.Inotherwords,thejobmaybecompleted
by10workers,soeachworkeronlygets10percentofthedose.Thiswouldkeepworkerdosesbelowthe
thresholdsforhealtheffectslikeacuteradiationsyndrome."
Longtermhealthproblemsmaydependonhowquicklypeoplearerotatedthrough,Murraysaid."The
workerswhocleanedupafterChernobylwererotatedthroughfairlyquicklyanddidnotseemtosuffermany
excesscancers.Thisexperiencehasprovidedepidemiologistsusefuldataonradiationexposure,"hesaid,
addingthatthenuclearcrisisattheFukushimaplantsisnotyetonparwiththeChernobyldisaster.
Anotherwaytominimizehealthrisksistosendworkersinquicklytoobserveanarea,andthenscootback
outtoplanthenextmove,accordingtoKearfott.
Callofduty
Expertssaythatit'slikelytheworkerscontinuetoperformtheirdangerousjobsbasedonasenseof
obligationandprideperhapsevenifit'snotintheirjobcontract.
"Ibelievetheplantworkersareperformingheroic,valiantworkrightnowattheJapaneseplants,drivenbya
deepsenseofobligationtothesociety,"Leesaid."Ibelievetheyperformthedutiesonavoluntarybasis."
Kearfottagreed."Ascontractscanbebroken,eachworkerstillinvolvedisundoubtedlydedicatedtodoing
theirbesttohelpthesituation.Itistheirjob,andtheyaredoingitveryprofessionally,"shesaid.
MurrayaddedthathisexperienceworkingwithJapanesescientistsleftalastingimpressionoftheirstrong
senseofdutyandsocialcohesion."Theseworkersprobablyhavealreadylostlovedonestotheearthquake
andtsunami,yettheystay,"hesaid.
Stressandlackofsleepmayalsobeplayingarole.Althoughthenumberofworkerswaslikelyincreasedto
reducetheamountofradiationeachworkerwasexposedto,itcouldalsohelpwiththegeneralfatigueand
pressureofthesituation.Fatigue,saidMurray,maybethebiggestfoe."They[theworkers]areworkingin
verystressfulconditionsandIimaginethattherearemanymechanicalandelectricalissuesthattheyhaveto
dealwithwhiletryingtokeepwaterinthereactorsandstoragepools."
Itcouldbeyearsbeforelastingeffectsoftheseworkers'effortsareknown,butJapanisasafercountryfor
them.
ThisarticlewasprovidedbyLife'sLittleMysteries,asistersitetoLiveScience.FollowKatharineGammon
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onTwitter@kategammon.

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AuthorBio

KatherineHarmon
KatherineHarmonCourageisanawardwinningfreelancejournalistandcontributingeditorforScientific
American.ShehaswrittenforTheNewYorkTimes,Wired,Gourmet,PopularScience,Prevention,and
others,coveringeverythingfrombreakingsciencenewstofeaturesaboutfood.Sheistheauthorofthebook
Octopus!TheMostMysteriousCreatureIntheSea,andherworkwasfeaturedinTheBestAmerican
ScienceandNatureWriting2013.ShegraduatedfromVassarCollegewithanhonor'sdegreeinEnglishand
earnedamaster'sdegreefromtheUniversityofMissouri'sSchoolofJournalism.ShelivesinColorado,
whereshealsocompetesinmarathonsandtriathlons.FollowheronTwitter@KHCourage,andreadmore
onherwebsitewww.KatherineCourage.com.
KatherineHarmonon

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