Tokyo Electric Power Company: Fukushima Nuclear Plant Workers May Have Been Exposed to Radiation

Wearing Protective Gear but Facial Area Contaminated with Radioactive Material

An employee of a Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) subcontractor working at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant in Japan was exposed to radioactive materials.

According to Kyodo News and other foreign media on the 11th, TEPCO announced that a male subcontractor employee in his 20s participating in the decommissioning work of Unit 2 at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant had his facial area contaminated with radioactive materials, raising the possibility of radiation exposure.

According to Kyodo News, the man wore protective equipment such as a mask and raincoat and was engaged in decontaminating dismantled fences around Unit 2 inside the west side of the reactor building at around 11:05 a.m. Afterward, during the procedure to leave the site, radioactive contamination was detected. It is reported that the man completed the decontamination process within the plant premises without going to a hospital after contamination was confirmed.

TEPCO believes that radioactive materials adhering to the mask and other equipment may have contaminated his face. The exact cause has not yet been clarified.

Earlier in October, at the same nuclear power plant, two subcontractor employees involved in cleaning pipes of the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS) for contaminated water purification were splashed with liquid containing radioactive materials while not wearing protective equipment. They were hospitalized, treated, and discharged.