50 Fukushima workers expect to die from radiation sickness

Almaty. April 1. Kazakhstan Today - The mother of one of the workers who are attempting to restore vital cooling systems at the Fukushima nuclear plant said today that they all expect to die from radiation sickness 'within weeks', Kazakhstan Today reports.

Workers who have been fighting to bring the reactors under control at Japan's strick nuclear plant expect to die from radiation sickness, according to the mother of one of the men, The Telegraph reported.

The so-called Fukushima 50, the group of around 300 technicians, soldiers and firemen who work in shifts of 50, have been exposed repeatedly to dangerously high radioactive levels as they attempt to avert a nuclear disaster.

The mother of one of the men has admitted that the group have discussed their situation and have accepted that death is a strong possibility.

"My son and his colleagues have discussed it at length and they have committed themselves to die if necessary in the long-term."

"They have concluded between themselves that it is inevitable some of them may die within weeks or months. They know it is impossible for them not to have been exposed to lethal doses of radiation, The Daily Mail reported.

The woman spoke to the network on the condition of anonymity because plant workers had been asked by management not to communicate with the media or share details with family members in order to minimize panic.

The commitment from the workers at the plant came as it was revealed 1,000s of victims bodies have not been collected because of fears of high levels of radiation.

Police sources said bodies within the 12-mile evacuation zone around the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant had been 'exposed to high levels of radiation after death'.

It follows the discovery of a body on Sunday in Okuma, just three miles from the power plant, which revealed elevated levels of radiation.

Fears have been raised that police officers, doctors and bereaved family members may be exposed to radiation as they go to retrieve the bodies.

Japan Today said authorities initially planned to inspect the bodies after transporting them outside the evacuation zone, but that is now being reconsidered.

Thousands of people have been forced to leave the area around the plant, which is leaking radioactive materials as its cooling systems failed.

Cremating the bodies could spread radiation further, while burying the victims could also cause contamination in the soil.

Authorities are believed to be considering decontaminating bodies where they are found, which could damage them further.

The country's nuclear safety agency revealed levels of radiation in the ocean near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant had surged to 4,385 times the regulatory limit.

And officials said that groundwater underneath the plant's reactor had been measured at 10,000 times the government health standard.

Spokesman Naoyuki Matsumo says the elevated levels of iodine-131 were measured in groundwater 15 meters underneath one of six reactors at the plant.

It comes after Japan finally conceded defeat in the battle to contain radiation at four of Fukushima's crippled reactors. They will now be shut down.

Details of how this will be done are yet to be revealed, but officials said it would mean switching off all power and abandoning attempts to keep the nuclear fuel rods cool.

The final move would involve pouring tonnes of concrete on the reactors to seal them in tombs and ensure radiation does not leak out.

The dramatic announcement that the four reactors are out of control and will have to be decommissioned was made yesterday by the chairman of the electric company operating the Fukushima plant.

The Tokyo Electric Power Company, which owns the stricken plant, was preparing itself to compensate for people's losses and damage - 'according to the law' - caused by the radiation leaks.

But it warned that a $24billion bank loan would not be enough to keep it afloat and pay for Japan's worst nuclear disaster without a government bail out.

Asia's largest utility, TEPCO has seen its share price crash 80 per cent since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami sparked the crisis.

It is also facing a massive compensation bill, thought to be as much as $12billion, as a result of the nuclear disaster.

Japan's prime minister and other figures have heavily criticised TEPCO for its handling of the disaster.

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