Japan nuclear plant workers pushed to limit

People work in the control room of reactor No. 2 with restored lighting at the earthquake and tsunami affected Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

OSAKA - WORN-OUT workers at Japan's stricken Fukushima nuclear plant are being pushed to the limit as high radiation levels endanger their lives and prolong their grim residency at the tsunami-ravaged facility.

After the March 11 earthquake and tsunami knocked out cooling systems at the plant, workers have toiled in toxic, dark environments laying electric cables, clearing rubble, hosing down overheating reactors and checking equipment.

Frequently spiking radiation levels have forced them to retreat from certain areas and extending their stay at the crippled plant central to Japan's worst ever nuclear accident.

Clad in protective suits, double-thickness gloves and masks and armed with flashlights, workers on shift rotations return from hours of hazardous toil to nap on floors or in corridors before returning to the grim darkness.

Huddling at the plant's 'quake-resistant' tower, resting workers lie on lead matting to prevent exposure to radiation which can rise up to 10 micro-sieverts an hour in that part of the complex.

'Workers sleep in conference rooms, hallways or near bathrooms. Each person is given one blanket, everyone sleeps on the floor in rows,' said Kazuma Yokota, a nuclear safety agency inspector stationed at the plant. 'We want to avoid staying too long as much as we can, because we are exposed to radiation every day. I've been exposed to 883 micro-sieverts in the past five days,' the exhausted-looking 39-year-old confided to broadcaster NHK. -- AFP