Japan's Nuclear Rescuers: 'Inevitable Some of Them May Die Within Weeks'

Workers at the disaster-stricken Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan say they expect to die from radiation sickness as a result of their efforts to bring the reactors under control, the mother of one of the men tells Fox News. The so-called Fukushima 50, the team of brave plant workers struggling to prevent a meltdown to four reactors critically damaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, are being repeatedly exposed to dangerously high radioactive levels as they attempt to bring vital cooling systems back online. Speaking tearfully through an interpreter by phone, the mother of a 32-year-old worker said: “My son and his colleagues have discussed it at length and they have committed themselves to die if necessary to save the nation. “He told me they have accepted they will all probably die from radiation sickness in the short term or cancer in the long-term.” The woman spoke to Fox News on the condition of anonymity because, she said, plant workers had been asked by management not to communicate with the media or share details with family members in order to minimize public panic. Read more: www.foxnews.com...

Well there you have it. These people are amazingly brave perhaps the rest of the world could take notice and give them the credit due, I would hope at least. I still can't imagine being in that position faced with the challenge of do you live and regret helping or do you give it your all knowing your doomed.

4 reactors? thought it was three

"The so-called Fukushima 50, the team of brave plant workers struggling to prevent a meltdown to four reactors critically damaged by the March 11 earthquake"

Originally posted by chrismarco
4 reactors? thought it was three

"The so-called Fukushima 50, the team of brave plant workers struggling to prevent a meltdown to four reactors critically damaged by the March 11 earthquake"

edit on 31-3-2011 by chrismarco because: (no reason given)

It's actually six reactors, four being in danger of possible meltdown, three having active fuel (the fourth has spent fuel that was cooling down prior to the disaster)

The USSR lost dozens of people in WEEKs fighting Chernobyl. They were rotating people ALL the time, something like 500,000 personnel were involved in the containment of the Chernobyl disaster and in building the sacrophagus.

That is 500,000 people! Out of which, 20,000 died very early. Some of them were clearing radioactive graphite off the roof for only 40 seconds! That was their entire mission - get on the roof, you have 40 seconds to grab a shovel, pick up radioactive junk, throw it off the roof, and off you go. Moreover, there was a meeting with IAEA, and the Soviets were more upfront with the scale of the disaster and the number of deaths that would result - however, it was IAEA that wanted that number reduced. Bottom line - every authority is interested in suppressing the scale of the nuclear disaster. It is no different in Japan.

It cost them 18 billion USD in 1986, and that is where people were paid nothing.

They buried hundreds of vehicles that became radioactive, including helicopters.

However, what's clear, is that the Soviets spared no effort.


So what's happening with Japan? They have to worry about 4 reactors, not 1 like Chernobyl. The fallout from this will be greater, I have no doubt. At least one of the reactor cores is fully breached, a la Chernobyl. It appears they're trying to contain the other 3 and get the situation under control, but at best it will take many months. It took the Soviets 7 months and 500,000 people - and they started burying the reactor almost from day 1. The Japanese are still attempting to cool it.