The 'Fukushima 50' Heroes

[xsited1]

We do not know their names, their faces, their families or their personal stories. Nobody really does. They are strangers, in a faraway land, doing the unthinkable.

In Japan they have a name: The Fukushima 50. A coterie of nuclear plant employees — some reports indicate 50, others suggest four working rotations of 50 — who stayed behind while 700 of their co-workers were evacuated from the stricken Fukushima-Daiichi facility on the Japanese coast.

Five have been killed. Two are missing. Twenty-one have been injured in a struggle where, in the words of Japan’s Prime Minister Naoto Kan, “retreat is unthinkable.”

The men understand the stakes. They know there is no turning back. One worker told a departing colleague he was prepared to die — that it was his job. Another informed his wife he wouldn’t be coming home anytime soon.

Fukushima 50 risk lives to prevent meltdown

Heroes.

 

[rightwinger]

Amazing sacrifice

Hope it works

 

[California Girl]

It never ceases to amaze me how people step up to the plate and sacrifice so much for their fellow man.

 

[R.D.]

 

[FuelRod]

Godspeed.

 

[Mr.Fitnah]

I hope they can get it done.

 

[HUGGY]

Someone should be commissioning busts for them to be displayed somewhere prominently in Japan. They are already heroes and their sacrifice demands recognition.

 

[xsited1]

Someone should be commissioning busts for them to be displayed somewhere prominently in Japan. They are already heroes and their sacrifice demands recognition.

Agreed. These people are not just heroes in Japan, but the entire world. They will pay the ultimate price and I fear they will all suffer incredibly painful deaths.

 

[Blagger]

Someone should be commissioning busts for them to be displayed somewhere prominently in Japan. They are already heroes and their sacrifice demands recognition.

Endorsed!

 

[California Girl]

Someone should be commissioning busts for them to be displayed somewhere prominently in Japan. They are already heroes and their sacrifice demands recognition.

Yep.

Every one of them has pretty much signed their own death warrant. Such sacrifice deserves to be marked. I pray for them, and their families.

 

[random3434]

We do not know their names, their faces, their families or their personal stories. Nobody really does. They are strangers, in a faraway land, doing the unthinkable.

In Japan they have a name: The Fukushima 50. A coterie of nuclear plant employees — some reports indicate 50, others suggest four working rotations of 50 — who stayed behind while 700 of their co-workers were evacuated from the stricken Fukushima-Daiichi facility on the Japanese coast.

Five have been killed. Two are missing. Twenty-one have been injured in a struggle where, in the words of Japan’s Prime Minister Naoto Kan, “retreat is unthinkable.”

The men understand the stakes. They know there is no turning back. One worker told a departing colleague he was prepared to die — that it was his job. Another informed his wife he wouldn’t be coming home anytime soon.

Fukushima 50 risk lives to prevent meltdown

Heroes.

Honor, Courage, Loyal and Fearless.

I love the Japanese.

God Bless these men and their families.

 

[Baron]

Interesting how many such Heroes could be found in Europa or U.S.?It is difficult to believe that too much.

 

[Toro]

Heroes.

Indeed.

 

[boedicca]

I read a blurb elsewhere that older workers are volunteering (the idea being they are less at risk of dying from the effects of radiation before their times than young workers).

They are truly inspirational.

 

[JW Frogen]

Some times this cynical drunk stands in sober awe of what dedicated humans will do.

God bless these brave bastards.

 

[syrenn]

I honor them. I understand them too.

I know i would stay and fight till the end. I am sure they all know they will die from the exposure. Why now stay and fight the good fight as long as you can.

Good people, all of them.

 

[California Girl]

On the BBC news last night, they said that some Americans and Brits are 'on the ground' at the facility.

 

[Valerie]

Now they're saying there's over 300 of them...Probably working in shifts...

About 300 workers are toiling in Tokyo Electric Power's earthquake-smashed plant, wearing masks, goggles and protective suits whose seams are sealed off with duct tape to prevent radioactive particles from creeping in.

They are racing against time to restore power and cooling systems to the six reactors at Fukushima Daiichi and try to avert the biggest nuclear catastrophe since Chernobyl in 1986.

"My eyes well with tears at the thought of the work they are doing," Kazuya Aoki, a safety official at Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, told Reuters. "We all just want to support them, and help them do a solid job."

Hit by explosions and fires, reactors at the plant, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, are leaking, and officials can't confirm if cooling water remains in pools containing spent fuel rods. If not, they can burn and release toxic radiation.

Safety agency and company officials won't say more about who the workers are or what specifically they are doing.

It has not been made public how many of the team of 304 work for Tokyo Electric and how many for other organizations such as outside contractors or the military. No one is saying whether they volunteered or were ordered to take on the task.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/18/us-japan-quake-workers-idUSTRE72H21920110318

 

[xsited1]

Overwhelmed: Tokyo Electric Power Company Managing Director Akio Komiri cries as he leaves after a press conference in Fukushima

Nuclear plant chief weeps as Japanese finally admit that radiation leak is serious enough to kill people | Mail Online

How sad.

 

[HUGGY]

Overwhelmed: Tokyo Electric Power Company Managing Director Akio Komiri cries as he leaves after a press conference in Fukushima

Nuclear plant chief weeps as Japanese finally admit that radiation leak is serious enough to kill people | Mail Online

How sad.

Great! Just fucking GREAT!! What we have here is a crybaby in charge of a nuclear disaster. Why not just hire on some little school girls?