Another #Fukushima I Nuke Plant Worker Dies, Off Site, Cumulative Radiation Exposure of 25 Millisieverts; TEPCO Says It Cannot Reveal the Cause of Death Yet

Back in the land of abundant rice (a la PM Abe), a worker in his fifties died after having fallen ill at a stockyard in Hirono-machi (that's where J-Village, used as the staging area for the work at Fukushima I Nuke Plant, is located) in Fukushima Prefecture. He had been working at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant since June 2011, and most recently he was working on the prep work for the Reactor 3 building cover.

I think it is just lunacy to force workers to be anywhere near Reactor 3, but that's what the Japanese government and TEPCO have been doing to alleviate fears, basically, from so-called experts that Reactor 3 is in danger (along with Reactor 4) and to make them look as if they were doing something.

The worker's cumulative radiation exposure since June 2011 was 25 millisieverts, which NHK tries to characterize it as "low".

From NHK News (3/1/2013):

東京電力福島第一原子力発電所の復旧作業に当たっていた５０代の男性作業員が、体調不良を訴えて病院に運ばれ、２７日夜、死亡しました。

A worker in his 50s who had been working at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant was taken to hospital after he complained he wasn't feeling well, but he died in the evening of February 27.

東京電力は、「診断書を確認していないため、男性の死因は公表できない」としています。

TEPCO says they cannot disclose the cause of death because they haven't seen the medical certificate.

東京電力によりますと、今月２５日の午前９時すぎ、福島第一原発３号機の原子炉建屋で、カバーを設置する準備作業を行っていた５０代の男性作業員が、福島県広野町にある会社の資材置き場で体調不良を訴えて一時心肺停止状態となり、いわき市の病院に運ばれました。

According to TEPCO, past 9AM on February 25, a worker in his 50s who had been doing the preparation work in the Reactor 3 building to install the cover over the reactor building at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant fell ill in the stockyard of the company he worked for in Hirono-machi in Fukushima Prefecture. At one point, he was in a state of cardiopulmonary arrest, and was taken to a hospital in Iwaki City.

その後、２７日午後１１時半すぎに、男性が亡くなったと会社から東京電力に連絡があったということです。

Later at 11:30PM on February 27, the company notified TEPCO that the worker had died.

この男性は、おととし６月から福島第一原発の復旧作業に当たっていて、これまでの被ばく量は、作業員の通常時の年間限度となっている５０ミリシーベルトより低い、２５ミリシーベルト余りだということです。

The worker had been working at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant since June of 2011. His cumulative radiation exposure was 25 millisieverts, lower than the annual limit of 50 millisieverts for radiation workers in the normal time.

東京電力は、「診断書を確認していないため、男性の死因は公表できない」としています。

TEPCO says they cannot disclose the cause of death because they haven't seen the medical certificate.

福島第一原発では事故のあと、これまでに男性作業員５人が心筋梗塞などで亡くなっています。

At Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, five workers have died so far from myocardial infarction (or heart attack) and other causes since the start of the accident.

The 50 millisieverts per year limit for radiation workers is rarely reached in normal condition, but NHK wouldn't volunteer that kind of information. Independent journalist Ryuichi Kino tweeted from TEPCO's press conference that the worker never regained consciousness.

Before the Fukushima accident, the natural radiation exposure in Japan was about 1.5 millisievert per year, including both internal exposure (radon inhalation, radioactive potassium from food) and external exposure (from cosmic rays, earth).

From TEPCO's press release on 2/28/2013 (pretty much the same as NHK News):

-At around 9:20 AM on February 25, at the material storage of cooperative company in Hirono Town, Fukushima Prefecture, a cooperative company worker who was engaged in the preparation for cover installation on Unit 3 Reactor Building reported being sick. The worker was transported to the medical clinic in J-Village. As cardiopulmonary arrest was confirmed at the clinic, an ambulance was called at 9:35 AM. After cardiac massage was performed, the worker's pulse was recovered at 9:54 AM. At 10:10 AM, the worker was transported to Iwaki Kyoritsu Hospital by ambulance. Later, we received an announcement from the main contractor that he was pronounced dead by a doctor at 11:32 PM on February 27.

At least these days they can call the ambulance, and the ambulance can get to the hospital quickly. It took 2 hours to transfer the very first worker who suffered a heart attack from the plant to the hospital in Iwaki City, about 48 kilometers from the plant.

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