The Fukushima 50 Tribute
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The Fukushima 50
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13.
Fukushima 50
Your bravery defends a world caught in fear,
Sickness rewards your gift so the long lived might,
Power moves in weakness, His strength is clear,
When you lay your life down and pick up your cross,
What you've won is as great as what you've lost.
Fukushima 50 Health Report
- Two Workers Die at the Fukushima Nuclear Plant
- The bodies of two workers were discovered inside the plant, a 21-year-old and a 24-year-old.
- Third Worker Dies at Fukushima Nuclear Plant
- The Death Toll of Tepco Workers at the Diaichi Nuclear Power Plant Rises to 3
- 200 retired engineers volunteer to clean up the nuclear power plant
- More than 200 retirees are volunteering to take the place of young people who are exposing themselves to high levels of radiation.
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Atomic Samurai, Men of the Fukushima 50
Will be updated with the names of the other anonymous men
Five men are believed to have already died and 15 are injured. The bodies of two workers were discovered inside the plant, a 21-year-old and a 24-year-old.
Morizo, one of the Fukushima 50 said in a blog post "It's probably a given that we employees are to handle the situation even if the consequences may be dire for us. So we are doing what we can as best as we can. We will be carrying a cross on our back for the rest of our lives... We are very sorry for the inconvenience we are causing because of the scheduled blackouts ... We employees at TEPCO have not been able to make time to take care of our own health let alone check on our own families' safety."
Emiko Ueno - "My town is gone, my parents are still missing. I still cannot get in the area because of the evacuation order. I still have to work in such a mental state. This is my limit."
Kazuma Yokota is being hailed as a modern samurai - one of the so-called Fukushima 50 who stayed at the crippled plant as its reactors threatened to melt down in the wake of Japan's devastating earthquake and huge tsunami. When asked about radiation exposure he said "I was exposed to 883 microsieverts during the five days I was there."
Shizuo Takahashi, "It is dark in there, dim at best, and pretty eerie," said Shizuo Takahashi, 50, who has worked at both the No. 1 and 2 reactors. He was at his home near the plant when the March 11 mega-quake struck, triggering the 10-meter tsunami that knocked out the power cables and backup generators needed to prevent the reactors and spent fuel pools from overheating. "But our mission is to curtail this disaster as soon as possible."
Eiki Igari, who had been laying cables at the No. 3 reactor for a week to restore power, said he was also scared, but added the mission at hand was driving him on. "All we can do is try our best to make sure things are brought under control as soon as possible," he said.
Akira Tamura, who is from Iwate and has worked at reactors 1 and 2 "We are working on a shift basis, sometimes for one hour at a time, sometimes two," said Tamura, who was at home in Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture, when the quake struck, and was immediately dispatched to the plant. "The radiation level is high so we are not able to make as quick progress as we would like. But we all have a sense of mission to complete the operations, so there is not much talk at the workplace, no shouts of 'Let's do it!' and so on. I want to see my family. They are worried," Tamura said.
Nobuhide Suzuki, group leader said: "It is tense (inside the power plant) and we do feel the weight of responsibility on our shoulders. But we will see this mission through until the very end. Knowing we have the support of so many people helps us to feel we are not alone."
Unable to see their families, workers are reduced to exchanging mails with wives and children, who all express concern.
Anonymous A woman said her husband continued to work while fully aware he was being bombarded with radiation. In a heartbreaking email, he told his wife: 'Please continue to live well, I cannot be home for a while.'
Anonymous "I didn't want him to go," one man's wife told a Japanese paper. "But he's been working in the nuclear industry since he was 18 and he's confident it's safe."
Anonymous "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 mother of a 32-year-old worker said through a translator. She asked to remain anonymous because the plant workers and their families have been told not to speak to the media.
Anonymous A 27-year-old woman said earlier this week that her father had volunteered for Fukushima duty. A day later she said, "I heard that he volunteered even though he will be retiring in just half a year and I my eyes are filling up with tears.... At home, he doesn't seem like someone who could handle big jobs...but today, I was really proud of him. And I pray for his safe return."
Fukushima 50 in the News
Working Conditions at the Fukushima Plant
- Wearing protective bodysuits and under lamplight, the men race to fix the plant, knowing the high exposure to radiation may kill them.
- Fighting fires and explosions while trying to cool reactors in the pitch dark
- Fukushima workers surviving on two small meals a day
- Technicians sleep in corridors during three-day shifts. Workers sleep 500 meters from the reactors on the floor or in stairwells and hallways. To shield them from radiation from the floor, they cover themselves with lead-containing sheets before they put on blankets.
- Radiation monitors shared between employees
- Each of the employees of Tokyo Electric Power Co. and other workers is given 30 survival food crackers and a 180 milliliter pack of vegetable juice for breakfast after getting up just before 6 a.m.
- After breakfast, they work within the plant at the center of the worst nuclear crisis in Japan. The workers are given no lunch.
- Supper is dried rice and only one can of chicken or fish for each person. Boiled mineral water is put into the pack of 15 minute ''Magic Rice,''. The workers eat their meals quietly.
- Until March 22, they were given only one 1.5 liter bottle of mineral water per day. Since March 23, more supplies have arrived and they can ask for one more bottle, according to the official spokesperson.
- They cannot shower there so they wash themselves with wetwipes. After three days' work they spend three days at J-Village, a nearby sports complex, for a shower, proper food and sleep.
- Working to their mental and physical limits connecting electric cables and repairing smashed machinery and pumps in order to restart the plant's cooling systems, some while standing in radioactive water without sufficient protection and suffered radiation burns
- The government raised the legal limit of radiation they could be exposed to from 100 to 250 millisieverts. Over 12 times the legal dose for radiation workers under British law.
- There are 300 people working in shifts of 50, earning the inaccurate nickname the Fukushima 50.
- Fukushima plant workers have been offered over 3,500 euros a day. Japanese media announced: before the crisis, workers were payed between 85 and 170 euros a day.
- In the evening, workers meet to report to each other about any progress made. At the end of the meeting,they clap their hands together at the call of an officer. It is then followed by a chant from others, ''Gambaro!'' (Let's keep it up!).
- Most workers are replaced by others in one week. Mobile phones cannot be used as no signals reach there. ''The workers are doing their best while they cannot even contact their family members
Japan Earthquake Donation & Volunteer Links
Red Cross, Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity Japan
- Japanese Red Cross Society Earthquake Donation
- We heartily appreciate your kind offer of donation.
If you want to donate money to the affected population of earthquake and tsunami, please contact your national Red Cross/Crescent society, which may have already launched fundraising campaign within your country. If your national society doesn't collect donation or you wish to send your donations directly to the Japanese Red Cross Society, please direct your fund to the following bank accounts. - Japanese Red Cross Society donation via Pay Pal
- Your PayPal donation for Japanese Red Cross Society will be utilised to help those affected by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. We heartily appriciate your kind offer of donation.
- Canadian Red Cross Donate online - Japan Earthquake/Asia-Pacific Tsunami
- Canadian Red Cross sends $5 Million to Japan donated by generous Canadians
- American Red Cross Donations / Donating Partners
- The American Red Cross are taking donations by SMS. For donations from the US, text REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.
- Canadian banks accepting donations for Red Cross relief efforts in Japan
- The following banks are also accepting financial donations from March 15 to April 15, 2011:BMO Financial Group, Canadian Western Bank, CIBC, HSBC Bank Canada,ING DIRECT, Laurentian Bank of Canada, National Bank Financial Group, RBC, Scotiabank, TD Canada Trust
- British Red Cross Japan Tsunami Appeal
- The costs of the relief effort, and of rebuilding the homes and lives of those affected, will be immense. Donations to the British Red Cross will be used towards helping the Japanese people recover from this devastating natural disaster over the coming months and years. In the unlikely event that we receive more donations to the Japan Tsunami Appeal than the Japanese Red Cross and International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement can reasonably and efficiently spend, any surplus funds will be used to help us prepare for and respond to humanitarian disasters both here in the UK and overseas.
- Philippine Red Cross Donations / Donating Partners
- PRC Chairman Richard J. Gordon said, adding, "Being a third world country shouldn't hinder us from helping our neighboring country, which is in dire need of assistance."
PRC is a member of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement that is now working together to help alleviate the plight of the Japanese quake victims.
To donate, please text: REDAMOUNT to 2899, or DONATEAMOUNT4-digit M-PINREDCROSS to 2882 for Globe subscribers; and REDON to 4483 for Smart subscribers. - Japan Quake Google Crisis Response - Donate Here
- 2000 yen is approximately 25 US dollars. Your card will be charged in JPY and a foreign transaction fee may apply. All funds received will be sent to the Japanese Red Cross Society donation account. The JRC has stated that all funds will be distributed directly among those affected by the earthquake and tsunami.
- Fosun Announces Donation of RMB 5 Million to Frontline Fukushima Rescue Forces
- This donation might not be of great help to the rescue workers. Yet we very much hope to pay our tribute to the action of these workers and express our gratitude to their efforts and contributions to the environment and overall health of human beings.
- Volunteers Needed for Habitat Humanity Japan
- Habitat for Humanity Japan is looking for volunteers who are based in Japan to help with clean-up. It expects its response to last for up to two years and might invite foreign volunteers at a later date. Those interested in volunteering should email: info@habitatjp.org
- Habitat Humanity Japan Donate
- In the short-term, Habitat for Humanity Japan is mobilizing its pool of local volunteers and recruiting others to support the Japanese government's initial clean-up and relief operation, which will start in earnest after the search and rescue operations have finished. Longer-term, Habitat for Humanity will continue to provide volunteer support to rebuild the disaster-stricken areas of the country. Habitat for Humanity International will also assist Habitat for Humanity Japan in rebuilding its own capacity to serve families in need of shelter within the Asia-Pacific region and around the world.
- Salvation Army Japan Earthquake & Tsunami Relief
- The Salvation Army is also using SMS to take donations. Text the words JAPAN or QUAKE to 80888 to make a $10 donation - make sure you respond YES when you receive a "thank you" message. You can also take the more tradition donor route, donating online, by phone, calling 1-800-SAL-ARMY.
- FBI Hotline to Report any Suspected National Disaster Donation Frauds
- The FBI and the National Center for Disaster Fraud have an existing tip line to receive information from the public about suspected fraud associated with the earthquake and tsunami that affected Japan. Tips should be reported to the National Center for Disaster Fraud, (866) 720-5721. The line is staffed by a live operator 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Additionally, e-mails can be sent to disaster@leo.gov, and information can be faxed to (225) 334-4707 .
Two Men Drive into Fukushima with Geiger Counters
"Fukushima 50" Twitter Search
Related Articles
Can we add anything to this tribute please comment
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Charla Eitel
Apr 2, 2011 @ 8:14 pm | delete
- Is there anyway to send supplies to the workers in the plants? I know it is unsafe, but I am familiar with the response utilized in hazmat/radiological emergencies. Could someone deliver the supplies to the cold zone then that someone deliver them to the warm zone then to the hot zone? These workers need supplies as well- Anyone with any information as to who to contact to do this?
Thank you - contact me at starrynights@eitelonline.com
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archangelptx Apr 2, 2011 @ 7:12 pm | delete
- I love reading stories about people actually having more than just a shred of humanity and going above and beyond the call of duty just because it's the RIGHT thing to do. Great lens!
There's a news article I read just the other day about a man that went action hero mode after the earthquake and tsunami hit by swimming with scuba gear that he found solely to rescue is wife and mother, who lived MILES apart, then proceeding to continually dive day after day to help save other unfortunate victims. Heart warming to the core.
I'm also glad that you found my tips about avoiding the YLOD for your PS3, good to hear that it's helping you!
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Squidoo_Queen
Apr 2, 2011 @ 4:37 am | delete
- These men are true heros - I'm sure that it will be years (if ever) before we find out the true damage. This lens is a great tribute to them, well done!
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