Man dies at Japan's nuclear crisis plant
Source: Agencies |
May 15, 2011, Sunday
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Print Edition
A man died on his second day working at Japan's tsunami-wrecked nuclear power plant yesterday, and the plant operator said harmful levels of radiation were not detected in his body.
The contract worker in his 60s was the first person to die at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in northeastern Japan since the March 11 quake and tsunami damaged the facility, causing a string of fires, explosions and radiation leaks.
The worker was carrying equipment when he collapsed and died later in hospital, said Naoyuki Matsumoto, spokesman for Tokyo Electric Power Co. The company does not know the cause of his death, Matsumoto said.
The man had been wearing a radiation protection suit, mask and gloves while working at the plant's waste disposal building, which stores radioactive-contaminated water that has leaked from the reactors.
Two Fukushima workers died on March 11 from the tsunami itself, when waves swept into the plant and heavily damaged buildings and equipment.
The quake and tsunami are believed to have killed more than 24,500 people. Police said Friday that 15,019 were dead and 9,506 were still listed as missing.
Radiation leaks at the plant have forced 80,000 people living within a 20-kilometer radius of the nuclear facility to leave their homes.
The nuclear crisis prompted the government to evaluate all of Japan's 54 reactors for quake and tsunami vulnerability, and Prime Minister Naoto Kan asked that one plant in central Japan halt operations while its defenses were improved.
(AP)
The contract worker in his 60s was the first person to die at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in northeastern Japan since the March 11 quake and tsunami damaged the facility, causing a string of fires, explosions and radiation leaks.
The worker was carrying equipment when he collapsed and died later in hospital, said Naoyuki Matsumoto, spokesman for Tokyo Electric Power Co. The company does not know the cause of his death, Matsumoto said.
The man had been wearing a radiation protection suit, mask and gloves while working at the plant's waste disposal building, which stores radioactive-contaminated water that has leaked from the reactors.
Two Fukushima workers died on March 11 from the tsunami itself, when waves swept into the plant and heavily damaged buildings and equipment.
The quake and tsunami are believed to have killed more than 24,500 people. Police said Friday that 15,019 were dead and 9,506 were still listed as missing.
Radiation leaks at the plant have forced 80,000 people living within a 20-kilometer radius of the nuclear facility to leave their homes.
The nuclear crisis prompted the government to evaluate all of Japan's 54 reactors for quake and tsunami vulnerability, and Prime Minister Naoto Kan asked that one plant in central Japan halt operations while its defenses were improved.
(AP)
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