Hazards of agency work: contract workers at Fukushima cleanup ordered to falsify radiation dosages

On July 21, the Asahi Shimbun revealed that workers employed by a contractor at the Tokyo Electric Power Company’s stricken Fukishima nuclear plant were ordered to wrap with lead the dosimeters which register their radiation exposure in order to allow them to continue working beyond the danger threshold. In principle, workers exposed to more than 50 millisieverts over a year must cease working and leave the area. Workers who refused to disable their dosimeters were threatened with the loss of their jobs.

The company, Build-Up, which performs work at other Japanese nuclear sites, was well aware of the lethal radiation levels inside the plant. An inspection last year, when the area was strewn with debris from the reactor explosion, had disclosed dangerously high levels.