Experienced German reporter accuses Japan of using minors and homeless people in Fukushima

I havent seen this story in English anywhere, unfortunately.

Robert Hetkämper of the German public service broadcaster ARD claims that the Tokyo Electric Power Company are using homeless people, minors and poor immigrants as "cannon fodder" to do work inside the contaminated areas of the plant. He says his claims have been backed up by doctor who has worked for them for a long time. These people are given heavy doses of radiation and then simply dismissed, and new people brought in. This is a practice that has been going on for decades according to Hetkamper. Norwegian daily VG says that in Japanese media the "heroes" of Fukushima who are battling the reactor presently are not referred to as "employees" but as "temporary workers" or something to that effect.


http://www.welt.de/vermischtes/weltgeschehen/article12901818/Schickt-Tepco-Obdachlose-ins-AKW.html

Hetkamper is not just anybody in German media. He was head of the ARD Tokyo office in 1988, has worked in Asia since 1984 and is currently bureau chief of their Singapore office.

We should watch this story

Still, it could be slander. But from what i know of Japanese culture, i wouldnt be terribly surprised either.

It is a sad time for the country and people certainly dont want to hear about this. But i just think its possible to keep two thoughts in the mind at once.

He is thinking about "haken gaisha" (派遣会社 ) which is a temporary employment agency. But "haken sareru" (派遣される ) is sent on temporary assignment to another site. In other words, they are bringing in people from elsewhere-- self-defense forces, Tokyo Fire Department, even a couple of people from the NRC -- to help cool the reactor, restore power to cooling systems, observe the situation. Temporary workers would be referred to as "arubaito" (アルバイト )　or maybe "pa-to" (パート ), and I've not heard those words used in reference to the people who are now working at the reactors.

PB

for a random untrained person to do inside a mangled nuclear reactor? Hetkämper may be the real deal, but his BS-meter seriously let him down on this one...

...I suppose they could be shovelling shit into buckets.


Think of it for one second. Umpty nump fire crews and other ESWs. Over 100 permanent nuclear workers. Planes and helicopters constantly overflying the site. And yet only ONE person comes forward to report that kids and the homless are secretly being used to perform some nebulous task too dangerous for "people of value".

IF this story were real, and it escaped, it wouldn't just topple the government, it would turn into a race between its members gutting themselves neatly onto neat little aprons and the public messily removing heads to set on pikes.

There is an official Japanese word for temporary laborers-- "haken rodosha"-- but I can't find any Japanese reference to it with a direct connection to the Fukushima Daiichi complex. It is conceivable that some "homeless" people-- that is, people left homeless due to the disaster, and who may have lost family members to boot-- may have volunteered to do simple tasks at the complex because they may think they have nothing left to lose and want to help out. However, I think they would be referred to as "volunteers". Also, there were quite a number of technicians from companies involved in the construction of the plants-- Toshiba and Hitachi, for example-- who were sent to the site. They would not be referred to as Tepco company workers, but as "hakensha", or more likely, "haken gijutsusha".

specific meanings in the original. It would make sense that there are a lot of people on site who aren't from the original staff - temps, certainly, but not the kind you order up from Manpower or grab off the street corner...

Thanks for the insight!

Trying to get the power up, monitoring the temperatures, surveying the interior of the buildings... those are all jobs that need to be done with someone who is more familiar with nuke plant operations than the 12 year old or homeless person down the street.

First they are using minors and poor immigrants as "cannon fodder" to do work inside the contaminated areas of the plant. He says his claims have been backed up by doctor who has worked for them for a long time. These people are given heavy doses of radiation and then simply dismissed, and new people brought in. This is a practice that has been going on for decades according to Hetkamper

So the reactor was emitting radiation for decades?