Japan: 3 nuclear plant workers exposed to high radiation

Japan: 3 nuclear plant workers exposed to high radiation

2011-03-25 07:40:51 GMT+7 (ICT)

TOKYO (BNO NEWS) -- Three nuclear plant workers in Japan were exposed to high-level radiation at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, while two of them were taken to a hospital due to radiation burns, officials said Thursday.

Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency and the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) said the three men, who are in there 20s and 30s, were exposed to radiation amounting to 173 to 180 millisieverts while laying cable underground at the No. 3 reactor's turbine building, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported.

Nuclear plant workers are limited to being exposed to 100 millisieverts while dealing with a crisis, but as Japan faces its worst nuclear crisis in history, authorities raised the limit to 250 millisieverts.

The two TEPCO workers were diagnosed with possible beta ray burns as they stepped into a 15-centimeter-deep (6-inch) puddle with water registering radiation levels of 400 millisieverts per hour. The water may have penetrated their protective gear, causing radioactive material to stick to their skin.

The technicians were wearing non-woven protective suits of U.S. chemical firm DuPont Co.'s Tyvek brand, full-face masks and rubber gloves, but the two who were later hospitalized were not wearing boots.

Following the incident, the rest of the workers at the first and the basement floors of the No. 3 reactor's turbine building were evacuated.

The workers were treated at a Fukushima hospital, and they will be taken to the National Institute of Radiological Sciences in Chiba Prefecture, where they will be monitored for around four days.

Following the catastrophic March 11 earthquake that struck Japan, the number of TEPCO workers exposed to radiation exceeding 100 millisieverts at the plant now totals to 17.

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