By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist

The heroic band of workers who have been risking their lives to prevent the meltdown of four stricken reactors at the Fukushima nuclear facility in Japan have told their families they fully expect to die from radiation sickness as a result of their efforts.

Fox News is reporting that the mother of a 32 year-old worker at the plant 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 on the condition of anonymity because plant management has asked workers to avoid speaking to the media or to share details with family members in an effort to minimize public panic.

The woman would not say if her son or other workers were already suffering from radiation sickness as a result of their exposure to dangerously high levels of radiation while attempting to cool the reactors.

“They have concluded between themselves that it is inevitable some of them may die within weeks or months,” she said. “They know it is impossible for them not to have been exposed to lethal doses of radiation.”

Three workers were treated for radiation overexposure last week after coming into contact with contaminated water. Two of them suffered burns to their legs and ankles and absorbed radiation internally, but have since been released from the hospital.

There have been no reports of more workers suffering from radiation sickness.

The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) has pledged to improve the tough conditions for workers who stay on the site, and is taking precautions such as allowing short turnaround of shifts of only 15 minutes at a time inside the reactor buildings or wherever highly radioactive substances are present. 

Although the team of workers is often referred to as the Fukushima 50, there are actually 180 anonymous volunteers who work in shifts of 50. The workers are lodging in a building within the complex, eating only two basic meals a day of crackers and dried rice and sleeping in conference rooms and hallways.

Banri Kaieda, the interior minister who also acts as a deputy head of the nuclear disaster task force jointly set up by the government and TEPCO,  told a media conference it was “not a situation in which minimum sleep and food could be ensured.”

In addition, not all of the workers have been provided with lead sheeting to shield themselves from potentially radiation-contaminated floors while sleeping.

“My son has been sleeping on a desk because he is afraid to lie on the floor. But they say high radioactivity is everywhere and I think this will not save him,” said the mother of the worker who spoke to Fox News.

According to Sendai Bishop Martin Tetsuo Hiraga, Christians are among those workers who are risking their lives to prevent a far greater catastrophe.

“In the midst of this tragedy we are experiencing and which is creating serious concern for all, we know that some Christians are working as volunteers near the plant,” Bishop Hiraga told Fides.

“In this terrible situation, the Japanese Christians have a great opportunity to give witness to their faith and Gospel values. They are doing it in solidarity and dedication to others, in a spirit of self-denial. In Fukushima workers are risking their lives to save the Japanese people and prevent nuclear catastrophe,” the bishop said.  

The situation remains unstable and highly dangerous with bad weather hampering further attempts to restore cooling to the reactors and stop the leak of radiation into the atmosphere. High levels of radiation have thus far been found in soil, food and milk products and levels registering as high as 10,000 times the normal limit have been found in local groundwater.

In addition, authorities are still trying to decide how to safely collect the bodies of nearly 1,000 people who died near the plant in the March 11 quake and tsunami. Officials are afraid that family members who wish to claim their dead could become contaminated. Cremating the bodies could spread plumes containing radioactive materials into the air and burial would pose a threat to the soil.

Meanwhile, nuclear experts from around the world are saying that cleaning up the site and stopping the radiation leaks will not happen until the nuclear fuel rods have completely cooled and been removed – which could take anywhere from 50 to 100 years.

© All Rights Reserved, Living His Life Abundantly®/Women of Grace®  http://www.womenofgrace.com