No More Free Lunch at #Fukushima I Because TEPCO Ran Out of Boil-In-The-Bag Food??

It's an unconfirmed bit of information from a Representative in the Lower House of Japan's Diet.

Yukiko Miyake says she had a chance to talk to Banri Kaieda, ex-Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry who lost the bid to become the party leader and the prime minister. According to her tweet on September 16:

本会議で海江田さんと話すチャンスがあった。一昨日連絡した作業員食事打ちきりの件をすぐ調べてくれた。打ちきりは事実で、私達も試食した真空パックの非 常食がなくなったということだが、内部被爆の問題もあり今までのものが安全に思える。全国にストックがあるはずではとのこと。

I had a chance to talk to Mr. Kaieda during the main session of the Diet. I had told him two days ago about the free lunches for the [Fukushima I] workers that were stopped. He immediately did some research, and said to me the following: "It is true that the free lunches were stopped, because the emergency boil-in-the-bag food ran out. But we have to worry about internal radiation exposure for the workers, and I think the boil-in-the-bag lunches are safer. I think boil-in-the-bag food is in stock throughout Japan."

So, TEPCO may have run out of boil-in-the-bag food stocked at Fukushima I and at J-Village, and it couldn't buy more and/or it couldn't ask for more.

I wonder how Mr. Kaieda is doing these days, relieved of the ministerial job. My personal vote for the new PM was actually Kaieda, despite all the badmouthing I did of him. Unlike ex-prime minister Kan and ex-cabinet secretary and current Minister of Economy and Trade Edano, Kaieda hasn't appeared in the media circuit (I almost wrote "circus") to peddle "his side" of the recent 6 months history of Japan's nuclear crisis.

New Prime Minister Noda has gone very quiet after becoming the PM, with some questionable appointments of ministers and party leaders including Mr. Maehara, who was revealed in WikiLeaks to have been informing Americans about Japanese politicians like Ichiro Ozawa.

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There Will Be No Free Lunch for Fuku I Workers Any More, As TEPCO Stops Providing

citing "normalcy" at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. Instead, TEPCO will sell "bento" lunch boxes at the plant. No information yet on how much TEPCO will charge.

Normalcy.

From September 14 (JST) tweets by Ryuichi Kino, independent journalist who's been covering TEPCO press conferences from the beginning of the crisis:

東電は、ふくいちの現場で支給していたお弁当を廃止。これからは、ふくいちでお弁当を売るとのこと。注文して、受け取るようになるらしい。価格は、確認中。でも個人的には、弁当になっても支給すべきと思う。

TEPCO stopped providing bento lunches at Fukushima I. From now on, the company will sell bento at Fukushima I. Workers are to pre-order in order to get bento. Asking how much TEPCO will charge for bento. Personally they should continue to provide lunch for free.

これまでふくいちは、放射線の関係でお弁当を持ち込むことができなかったので、現場でレトルトを温めていた。だからレトルトを支給していたと、東電・松本さん。でも状況が安定してきてレトルトでなくても大丈夫になったので、お弁当にすると。

TEPCO's Matsumoto explains the company has been providing [for free] boil-in-the-bag food because high radiation at the plant prevented [workers] from bringing in bento. But the situation has stabilized at the plant, and the boil-in-the-bag food is no longer necessary, so the company is switching to bento, Matsumoto says.

松本さん曰く、今は平常時になってきているので、食事も各自がお弁当を持ってきたり、買ってきたりすることができる。だから支給の必要はないという説明。う〜ん、なんかヘン。

Matsumoto says now that things are getting back to normal, the workers can bring their own bento or purchase one, and so there is no need to provide free lunch. Hmmm, it doesn't make sense to me.

そもそも福島第一周辺は店なんかあいてないし、発電所からは出れないし、未明３時とかに宿を出ないといけないし、自分の家から通ってるわけじゃないから弁当を作るわけにもいかない。これを平常時というのは、どういうことなんだろう？

To begin with, there is no store open anywhere near Fukushima I Nuke Plant. Workers cannot leave the plant [during the work], and they have to leave for work at early hours like 3 in the morning. They are not commuting from their own homes so they cannot make their own bento. How can he called it "normal"?

だいたい作業員の食事くらい面倒みればいいのにと思うし、弁当を買わせたら、単に東電のコスト減、作業員の個人負担増ということになる。そう思って聞いてみたら、「今は平常時に戻って・・・云々」という同じ回答が何度も返ってきた。

Why can't TEPCO take care of the meals for the workers? Having them purchase bento will reduce TEPCO's cost, and increase personal cost to the workers. I asked [if it's TEPCO's cost reduction measure], but Matsumoto just repeated "Things are now back to normal..."

要するにコスト削減なんですか？と聞いたら、また「そういうことではなく、今は平常時・・・」。よくわからないけど、やっぱりコスト削減なんだろうな。でも作業員の給料が上がるわけじゃないから、現場に負担を押しつけてるだけでしかない。

Is it TEPCO's cost reduction? "It's not that, but things are getting normal..." I guess what it means is indeed the cost reduction. But the wages for the workers are being raised. It's just shifting the burden on the workers.

複数の下請け会社を抜けるから、作業員の手に渡るお金は多くない。作業員の暮らしは平時とはほど遠い。東電はそれをわかってて弁当支給を打ち切るんだから、コストダウン以外の理由が思い浮かばない。こんなところで士気を下げてどうするんだろう・・・。

The net wages to the workers, after the multiple layers of subcontractors take their cut, are not that much. The living condition of the workers is far from "normal". TEPCO must know that, but still stops providing free lunch. I can't think of any other reason but cost reduction. What is the company thinking, weakening the morale of the workers like this?

And the national government and the Fukushima prefectural government continue to look the other way. Many of these workers are from Fukushima Prefecture, some from the very towns where Fukushima I Nuke Plant is located, but the governor of Fukushima is more keen on securing the next big "dango" businesses which will include "decontamination" and debris clearing and medical data collection/research. NISA said early on in the crisis that it "had no plan to do anything about the situation of food for the workers, as it is TEPCO's problem".

Those rich philanthropists (cum business tycoons) in Japan completely ignore Fukushima I Nuke Plant or the workers. Masayoshi Son, of Softbank for example, has given 10 billion yen (US$130 million) to Miyagi Prefecture for its dubious disaster relief plan. A fraction of that money could provide free bento for the workers at Fukushima.

Let's see... Bento 500 yen a piece, workers 3,000. 1.5 million yen per day. It's been about 180 days. So TEPCO may have spent the total 270 million yen, or about US$3.5 million so far. Annually, it would be 540 million yen, or about US$7 million.

Well, it looks all TEPCO needs to do is to say to ex-President Shimizu, "Sorry, we have to have your fat severance paycheck back".

Or why can't the plant workers receive some of the donation money generously given by people from all around the world, so they can buy lunch? The money is still sitting at all levels - national, prefectural, municipal.

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