社会医学研究．第 31 巻 1 号．Bulletin of Social Medicine, Vol.31（1）2014

原著

Listen To Their Silent Cry: The Devastated Lives of Japanese Nuclear
Power Plant Workers Employed by Subcontractors
or Labour–brokering Companies
末端原発労働者の労働・生活実態について―下請け事業主や派遣元事業主に雇われて原子力発電所で働く労働者の就労・被曝実態―
Takaki Kazumi
髙木和美Gifu University
岐阜大学

Summary:
Nuclear power plant (NPP) workers and their families, especially those in the coastal area of Fukui
Prefecture, have been deprived of the basic condition of survival and reproduction for many generations. It is
no exaggeration to say that they have been paid for their exposure to radiation, not for their working hours.
In Japan, national regulations stipulate that workers exposure to radiation should not exceed certain levels.
The limit of exposure is 100mSv in five years and 50mSv per year. However, the limit is not applied to female
workers expecting children, despite the fact the working environment is extremely dangerous. In some NPPs, thelegal limit permits workers to work only for short periods. While NPPs utilize freely local workers abundantly
according to employers’needs, those people who earn a meagre income have been discarded mercilessly. ⅰ）
The majority of the NPP work force consists of temporary workers who are multiply exploited in complicatedlabour relations. The atomic-industry complex is a multiple-exploitation system in which the liability of employers
is shifted onto workers themselves. The exploitation system runs not only vertically, but also horizontally:
piping work is done by‘small companies,’each consisting of only a few day-workers; primary subcontractors
consolidate those small companies to commission construction jobs to them. Many of the workers employed bythese small companies have not received a Notice of Employment Conditions. There are also many cases where
employers who do substantially the same work as  hired workers have no contracts.
All employers are legally and ethically obliged to secure a safe working environment for their employees.
Working conditions for frontline workers in the industry have not improved in the past thirty years. ⅱ） In thecase of accidents, these workers are not always compensated appropriately. Multiple contracting systems andunstable employment with ambiguous labour contracts enable electric power companies and prime contractors
to avoid liability for labour-related accidents.
Key words：nuclear power plants, NPP workers, worker dispatching,radiation-exposed workers, work-life issues―  ―社会医学研究．第 31 巻 1 号．Bulletin of Social Medicine, Vol.31（1）2014

Introduction

working safely, before working in a NPP. Those who

This paper summarises the results of surveys I

take charge of education have ordered orally to tell

conducted from July 1986 through September 1987

nobody what workers saw in the work place or was

on local workers (and their families) who worked

heard. (The interview by Takaki on July 21, 2013)

in NPPs located in the Wakasa Bay area of Fukui

The Interviewed people 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 10

Prefecture. The paper includes the results of myrequired of me so that what it spoke about might beongoing inquiry into the working conditions of NPP

told to nobody.

workers and local residents in the same area which

From January 2012 through October 2013, at least

began on January 2012. Map 1 shows distribution often interviews were conducted with NPP workers

many NPPs in Japan. Wakasa Bay is crowded with(including retired persons), their family members,

NPPs

and NPP subcontractors. Among these, three people（Tsuruga,Fugen,Monjyu,Mihama,Ohi,Takahama).

were interviewed a second time. Many NPP workers

Most NPP workers in Japan hesitate to speak

live in the Wakasa Bay area, but it was very difficult

out about their working conditions. Restraints put

to hear from some of them because they feared

upon them by electric power companies and their

participating in the survey. For example, on 5 May

contractors prevent the workers from talking about

2012, an interviewee told me,‘Everybody aroundtheir jobs even with their families. It is presumed

here fears NPPs even if they don’t openly admitthat employers fear disclosure of grave problems

it, but publicly they say they hope to restart NPPs

such as recruitment methods, working environment,that were shut down in the wake of the Fukushima

N P P inspection results, acciden t s a n d t h e i r

disaster.’ ⅴ）

handling, and workers’illnesses and disabilities. If
workers speak out without restraint, the structural

1．Location of NPPs in Japan and the lack of local

vulnerabilities of NPPs could be exposed, as well as

employment opportunities

information about workers who have been illegally

On 27 May 1964, the Japanese Atomic Energy

employed and several cases of illness and death

Commission proposed guidelines recommending

possibly caused by radiation exposure. Althoughthat NPPs be built in non-residential areas. In fact,

the Fukushima nuclear disaster exposed long-term

unlike the capital city of Fukui Prefecture and its

problems surrounding NPPs, the harsh employmentneighbourhood, no large factory or housing estate for

and working conditions of NPP workers

ⅲ）

and their

workers has been constructed in the Wakasa Bay

serious health problems remain largely hidden fromarea. The area is not far from major cities including

the public.

ⅳ）

Kyoto, but improvement of the traffic situation was

Because they want to maintain a continuous flow

there was delayed, and neighbouring mountains areof contracts with the NPP industry, subcontractors

overrun with electric power cables and pylons thatnever speak out. NPP workers, who hardly

lead to metropolitan districts. ⅵ）

have enough employment opportunities in their

As a result of political manoeuvring, thecommunity, collectively remain silent because

population density of the area has remained low. The

they need jobs to feed their families, who are also

government has not given enough aid to farming,

employed in the industry. Persons involved inand stable employment has been limited. Youngcatering industries that service NPP workers arepeople who want jobs have no choice but to become

also gagged. No gag order would prevail if legal

civil servants (including teachers and health careand dignified employment and working conditions

workers), bank clerks, Nky-syokuin (employees ofwere arranged for safe and sound labour and if fair

agricultural cooperatives), or employees of electricindustrial relationships were established.

power companies (and their prime contractors). A

Workers have to receive the education for

few have been lucky enough to obtain such jobs, but― 10 ―

社会医学研究．第 31 巻 1 号．Bulletin of Social Medicine, Vol.31（1）2014

most have not.

ranked lower than me who earned a better wage
than I did, but they were exposed to higher levels of

2．Work-life issues of NPP workers in the Wakasa

radiation. And they had no“kenkhoken”.’

Bay Area in the 1980s

As shown in Chart 2, most irregular workers were

1）ultiple exploitation system of workers

excluded from public health insurance, although all

In the 1980s when my previous survey was

employers are legally required to contribute to the

conducted, ‘multiple-exploitation system’ ofsystem. Mr R. said he was lucky to be enrolled.

workers was prevalent. (See Chart 2 and Table 1)

Japanese public health insurance has two main

At the time, subcontracts, its subcontracts, and its

pillars:‘kenkhoken’ and ‘kokumin-kenkhoken

subcontracts (～tier- six) existed in participation(kokuho).’The former is for employees of privateof two or more principal contractor companies.

enterprises, the latter for those who are ineligible

Frontline subcontractors usually had no offices (orfor employment-based programs. In 1984, enrolees

only makeshift ones).

in‘kenkhoken’had to pay 10 % of their medical bills

Although many subcontract business proprietorsby themselves (30 % in April, 2003 and afterwards);

were carrying out exploitation from workers, theyenrolees in‘kokuho’had to bear 30% . In the samethemselves were doing contamination labor. Needless

year, the nominal wage in Japan was 300,000 yen.

to say, the scale of their exploitation might have

Wage schedule of NPP workers (1980―1984)

been much smaller than the electric power firm andtheir direct agents.

Basic wage:

Mr R., an NPP worker in his fifties who was
employed by a third-level subcontractor, told me:‘Until 1981, my employer gave me a sheet of paperwith the amount of my wage written on it, but since1982 a the word jirei (letter of appointment) was

May 1980（20 days）

June 1982（21 days）

November
1984

100,000 yen

11,300 yen

157,500 yen

Overtime allowance:

7,820 yen

3,316 yen

1,970 yen

Holiday allowance:

6,250 yen（per day）

13,250 yen（two days）

0 yen

Total:

114,070 yen

127,866 yen

159,470 yen

Net income:

100,000 yen

110,000 yen

140,000 yen

added. There were subcontracted NPP workers who

Chart 2

NPP subcontracting system in the Wakasa Bay Area in early 1980s― 11 ―

社会医学研究．第 31 巻 1 号．Bulletin of Social Medicine, Vol.31（1）2014

Table 1

List of the survery’s subjects(in order of belonging stratum)

2）Daily jobs of NPP workers

gear and masks; removing filter elements (fromInside an NPP, water contaminated withradioactive waste evaporator) to clear large trash;radioactive substances always leaks, and the air isusing grinders to scrap rust or peat moss off tanks

not safe to breath. Protective gear cannot completely

inside buildings; inspecting gauges in contaminatedprevent external exposure, and protective masks

areas (which may entail climbing high places withare not sufficient to guard workers from internala lifeline tied around the waist); and preventing theerosion of nuclear piles by infusing chemicals. Most

exposure.
The work NPP workers perform includes:of these‘dirty’jobs were done by irregular workers,

scrubbing contaminated floors or pipes; setting up

who were exploited by several employers and had

shields to lessen exposure for valve repair men;no other means of making a living. A handful ofchecking and repairing cracks or holes in pipes

subcontracted regular employees also perform theseor tanks; welding; transporting tools, machinery,jobs. In a sense, it could be said that executives

radioactive substances, and nuclear wastes; layingof NPP-related businesses earned their fortune atand removing sheets for lorries when they come inthe expense of these frontline workers. However,and out of facilities; washing contaminated protective

according to information provided by interviewees― 12 ―

社会医学研究．第 31 巻 1 号．Bulletin of Social Medicine, Vol.31（1）2014

1, 3, 4, and 5, it could not be said that the lowest

as regular workers directly employed by electric

subcontractors were in equal partnership with prime

power companies.’The article went on to report,

contractors, including electric power companies.

‘Almost 90 percent of NPP workers are employedby subcontractors. Why is their exposure dose so

3）People who lost their jobs or died due todiseasehigh? It is because they are not properly educatedon safety measures. Furthermore, they tended to be

A great number of NPP workers who had been

allocated more dangerous duties. It is a reflection ofchronically exposed to radiation suffered from cancer

improper labour practice.’(See Charts 3-1 and 3-2.)

ⅶ）

Some

Even in the 1980s, there was a case of a regularof the victims’families, such as their widows andworker who had allegedly died of radiation exposure.

children, applied for public assistance. (See Table 2

The man, who died of leukemia, had told his family,

for a trade union’s list of deceased workers.)‘It is risky to work as a subcontractor’s employee.

or heart disease, and many of them died.

They are exposed to too much radiation. It is only
Table ２

List of deceased NPP workers living

relatively safe if one works directly under primein Wakasa Bay Area

contractors.’ⅷ）

Chart 3-1

The number of workers exposed to radiationand total dose of exposure: as to employees ofelectric power companies and subcontractors4）Exposure dose of regular and irregular workers
Electric power companies in Japan report every
year to the Nuclear Regulation Authority on NPP
workers’ radiation exposure. These reports show
a difference of exposure doses between regularand irregular workers. On 26 July 2012, the online
version of Asahi Shimbun reported that the‘average
exposure dose of irregular workers, including people
employed by subcontractors, is four-times as much

― 13 ―

Chart 3-2

Total radiation exposure dose of NPP workers

社会医学研究．第 31 巻 1 号．Bulletin of Social Medicine, Vol.31（1）2014

3．Employment and working conditions of NPP

Nuclear Power Station (FDNPS) to contain theworkers after the Fukushima nuclear disaster

accident. One of the reprimanded companies was

1）NPP Subcontracting system of the Tokyo

Yamato Engineering Service (YES). According toElectric Power Company (TEPCO)

an official document, from 1 July through 9 August

Chart 4 shows the current NPP subcontracting

2011 two other companies, Sowa Kogyo and Agress,

system. It was produced by Watanabe Hiroyuki

dispatched 510 workers to YES. It is alleged that ofbased on the result of hearings conducted after thethe 510 workers, 341 were employed by YES andFukushima nuclear disaster in 2011. The system has

169 were dispatched by another‘haken-gaisha’to

not changed much since the 1980s.

YES. The dispatched workers were engaged in pipe
work at the FDNPS. In Japan, the two-fold dispatchof workers by multiple employers is illegal. Article
44 of the Employment Security Act states that it isforbidden for a person to‘have workers supplied bya person who carries out a labour supply businessunder his/her own directions or orders.’In addition,
Article 4 of the Worker Dispatching Act prohibits
labour supply companies from the constructionindustry.
2）Results of TEPCO’s‘employment questionnaire’
From 20th September to 18th October 2012,
TEPCO collected employment questionnaires
from 3,186 people who belonged to 27 TEPCO
subcontractors (76.1% of which were frontline
workers; 22.6% , administrators) and who wereChart 4 Subcontracting system for regular NPP check-ups and others

working at the FDNPS. The response rate for the
Nowadays, the main workforce of NPPs

questionnaire was 80.2% .

consists of atypical workers called‘haken-rdsya,’To the question:‘Is the company that supervises

or dispatched workers. There are two types ofyou the same one that pays your wage?’47.9% of

dispatch agencies (‘haken-gaisya’) for‘haken-rdsya’:respondents answered,‘No’and 2.1% answered,‘I

one employs workers permanently and dispatches

do not know.’Not surprisingly, to the question:‘Isthem according to demand from other employers;

the company that employs you, a subcontractor of

the other employs workers temporarily and makes

TEPCO?’all respondents answered,‘Yes’and 88.4%

a contract of employment with the workers only

added, the company was‘a first/second/third/fourth-when demand from other employers arise. While thelevel subcontractor.’One respondent even wrote

latter is required to obtain legal permission from thethat‘I cannot speak out about illegal employment

authority concerned, the former can operate only if

o u t o f f e a r o f l o s i n g m y j o b . ’ ( S ee T E P CO .

they register with the authority.

‘Shuroujittai nikannsuru anketo’nikansurukekka oyobi

Even legal‘haken-gaisha’are sometimes punishedkonngonotaisaku nituite（The questionnaire result about

for illegal activities. On 26 April 2013, the Nagasaki

the employment actual condition, and the proposal of theLabour Bureau (Ministry of Health, Labour andmeasure against future）.

Welfare) issued an improvement order to three

3 December 2012, Web. 22 March 2013.

companies that had illegally dispatched a total<http://www.tepco.co.jp/nu/fukushima-np/

of 510 workers to TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi

roadmap/images/m121203_05-j.pdf/>.)― 14 ―

社会医学研究．第 31 巻 1 号．Bulletin of Social Medicine, Vol.31（1）20143）Tsuruga and Wakasa area people who told

Interview 9 (conducted 12 October 2013): A family

their experiences to the author

member of Mr Y.I., who had been a

I conducted interviews with NPP workers

prime contractor’s employee. Mr Y.I. was(including retirees), their families, and NPP

exposed to radiation, and retired earlysubcontractors from 22 January through 30

after undergoing surgery for cancer. He
died soon after getting a new job.

September 2012. Interviews were conducted with

Interview10 (conducted 19 October 2013): F.J (50s),

the following individuals:

an employee of a first-level subcontractor.

Interview1 (conducted 22 January 2012): Mr

Exposed to radiation.

K. A. (60s), once employed by a direct
subcontractor of KEPCO (Kansai ElectricInterviewee No.3 (Mr H.C.) has been working

Power Co. Inc.), retired before he turned

at NPPs in the Wakasa Bay area since 1984. The

60. Exposed to radiation on the job.
Interview 2 (conducted 20 July and 31 August

following is an excerpt from his story.

2012): Mr H. B. (50s), is now employed by

My parents were blue-collar workers. After I

a prime contractor. Exposed to radiation

graduated from junior high school, I got a job aton the job.

a machinery maintenance company as a regularInterview 3 (conducted 22 June and 28 September

worker, but my wage was not enough. When I was2013): Mr H.C. (60s), an active NPP

26 years old, I quit the company and got another job

worker employed by third- or fourth-levelin a small factory doing mechanical maintenance.

subcontractor. Exposed to radiation.

There were only manager and me, so it was a two-Interview 4 (conducted 15 July and 11 August

man company. The factory, which faced a main2013): Mr S. D. (70s), a retired NPP worker

road, lost customers after a wider, new road was

employed by subcontractors. Exposed toconstructed. Ironically, it was exactly at this timeradiation.

that I married and my first child was born. I left

Interview 5 (conducted 21 July 2013): Mr H. E.

the factory when I was 35 and got a new job from a(60s), an active manager of an NPP

second-level NPP contractor as a (third) contractor.

subcontractor company (third- or fourth-

It was not difficult for me to become accustomed tolevel subcontractor). Exposed to radiation.

NPP work because I was a veteran mechanic.

Interview 6 (conducted 4 September 2013): Mr H.

One time, my wife and I lived in public housing.

F. (60s), a retired regular employee of an

In my forties, I bought a house with a loan. I had toaffiliate company of an ordering company.

work hard to provide for my family. My wife quit

Exposed to radiation.

her job after marriage. She has been doing piecework

Interviewee 7 (conducted 12 September 2013): A
family member of Mr I.G (age unknown).

at home while taking care of us and raising ourchildren.

Mr I.G. was a manager of third-or fourth-I worked anywhere, regardless of the radiationlevel a NPP subcontract company. The

level. I often did one hour overtime, sometimes

interviewee assists with the business.

working all night without sleep. Time spent with my

Mr I.G. is currently receiving medicalfamily decreased or increased, depending on the job.

treatment for a disease presumably

The exposure dose limits were set by employers, andcaused by radiation exposure.

I usually did my job within the limits, but once I had

Interview 8 (conducted 30 September 2013): Mr

to flee workplace because of excessive exposure. ⅸ ）Y. H. (50s), a retired regular employee of

Before working at NPPs, I really hesitated to doa second-level subcontractor. Exposed to

the work and I am scared to death when I thinkradiation.

seriously about it. You cannot see radiation, so you― 15 ―

社会医学研究．第 31 巻 1 号．Bulletin of Social Medicine, Vol.31（1）2014

can ignore it. ⅹ）

where the working conditions of NPP workers are

I have a kind of stable position, so I hardly have

desperate and there is little hope that they can

any contact with other NPP workers who wander

be improved solely through the collaboration andthe country looking for work; we are strictly

cooperation of frontline subcontractors. We must

separated from each other. In the past, the‘sub-spell out how to organize the work system in cases

sub-subcontractor’ boss collected workers, butwhere nuclear reactors are decommissioned. The

nowadays,‘haken-gaisha’do it. Worker dispatchers

paper makes the following observations:

often send in people who have no experience at all.
When another company was busy, my employer1）The vast majority of maintenance and control

ordered committing me in the another company.

of NPPs, transportation of nuclear fuel and waste

My employer does not change. And I supervise

disposal is done by temporary workers employed in

inexperienced workers recruited elsewhere in themultiple subcontracting system. The workers are

ⅺ）collected in accordance with the demands of electric

Since the end of 2012 and early 2013, the central

power companies and/or subsidiary companies ofand local government directed employers to enrol

plant manufacturers (such as Mitsubishi and Hitachi),company, though I am not officially a director.

their workers in social insurance, and I was directly

and are discarded anytime with no mercy. Not

employed by the company [with which Mr H.C. had

only workers but also terminal subcontractors arecontracted as an independent contractor]. In the past

expendable.

the company I contracted with did not enrol in social

2） Inside the NPPs, a complicated chain of

insurance, but it does now. While I was employedcommand exists: subcontracted regular employees,

regularly, I joined social insurance with employer

irregularly employed workers, or dispatched workers

contribution. The situation has changed. Both the(who are employed for limited period of time)

chain of command at the workplace and my own

work there. It is quite doubtful that mechanism toworking style have not changed even though I havemaintain, control, and repair NPPs in systematic andbecome a regular employee. The social insurance

consecutive ways is firmly established.

premium and income tax are deducted from my3）The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transportsalary, so my take-home pay has decreased. In the

and Tourism (MLIT) appeals to other concerned

company employing me, there are only four regular

officials or organisations in order to modernise andemployees, including me, and no irregular workers.

normalise for-profit entities engaged in the NPPWhen the manager needs more workers, he asks

business. The aims of the MLIT are to enrol allhaken-gaisha for them. Haken-sha-in, or dispatch

employees in social insurance and to guarantee

workers, earn a mere 150, 000 yen a month; some

paid vacation for all workers. As a recent trend,

lucky ones earn 200,000 yen.

ⅻ）

it is not unusual for independent subcontractors
who have enough capability to become employees

Conclusionof upper–level subcontractors. In such cases, NPP

What are frontline NPP workers doing, and whatworkers who earn the status of employees often

kind of situation are they in? Their employment

lose a certain degree of their income because social

conditions and working environment have notinsurance premiums and taxes are deducted from

improved since the 1980s. NPP employers, electric

their wages. On the other hand, subcontractors thatpower companies and their main subcontractor

directly employ several NPP workers tend to reduce

usually evade liability for labour accidents, suchthe wages of regular workers or refrain from hiring

as radiation exposure, hiding behind the cover ofirregular workers in order to ease the burden of

the multiple subcontracting system and flexible

social insurance premium on employers. Every time

employment. Furthermore, my study shows casesa shortage of workers occurs, the subcontractors― 16 ―

社会医学研究．第 31 巻 1 号．Bulletin of Social Medicine, Vol.31（1）2014

work that would involve exposure to radiation. ⅹⅵ ）;  collect irregular workers from haken-gaisha.
4）Working hours are substantially long for both(f) creation by the government in collaboration withirregular workers employed by rank subcontractors

electric power companies, large plant maker andand dispatched workers, regardless of the provisions

subcontractors of a substantial framework to secureof the Labour Standards Act. It usually takes aemployment of workers who have been exposed

long time for these NPP workers to travel to theto radiation; (g) protection of law-abiding terminal

workplace from their home or lodgings. All the while,subcontractors from the arbitrary actions of large-

nominal working hours at NPPs are set according toscale firms (including electric power companies);

radiation exposure dose, and it is not rare for worker(h) facilitation of application for workers’accident

exposure doses to exceed set limits in just a few

compensation (WAC) by NPP workers for lateminutes.

）radiation injury, and enlargement of the scope5）It is routine for NPP workers to lose their jobsof WAC to include diseases related to radiation

because their labour contracts have been terminated:

exposure; (i) enhancement of

the reason for their termination is that theirfor NPP workers and their families for which theexposure dose exceeds a certain level set by thegovernment would be responsible; (j) permanent）

medical checkups

As stated in Note 1 of this paper,

disclosure of information regarding subcontracting

as a general rule (with some exceptions), it is the

structure by electric power companies, plant

standard national practice to record workers’annual

makers and construction firms, and the creation of

exposure dose from 1 April through 31 March of theenvironment in and around NPPs so that workers

government.

following year.

）

can speak out [without fear of reprisal].

6）NPP workers have to remain in extremely
hot and wet place, where pipes twist and turn like

The sad reality is that it will take a large number

a labyrinth. Sometimes they have to move heavyof frontline workers, who cannot totally escape fromloads by hand. They have to wear heavy and clumsy

radiation exposure, even if all NPP reactors areprotective gear, including masks, gloves and helmets

decommissioned.

and even if they aren’t exposed to radiation, thesefactors certainly take their toil on their mental andAcknowledgement

physical well-being. On the other hand, so-called light

The author would like to thank Mr. Nakamura

work in NPPs does not require heavy protective

Yuji for his cooperation in translating the original

clothing, but people who do such work are vulnerable

Japanese into English.

to radiation exposure.

This paper was supported by a grant from the
JSPS Asia Core Program.

My study is far from complete; nevertheless, it
is my conviction that the industry should adopt
several measures to improve the employment
and working conditions of NPP workers. Suchmeasures include: (a) elimination of the multiple
system of labour exploitation; (b) elimination of‘gisukeoi’(work contract fraud); (c) prohibition of theuse of dispatched workers in NPPs; (d) distributionof certificates testifying that the bearer has been
exposed to radiation and guaranteeing certain healthcare benefits by the national government; (e) the
legal exemption of dispatched workers from any― 17 ―

社会医学研究．第 31 巻 1 号．Bulletin of Social Medicine, Vol.31（1）2014

Health, Labour and Welfare, after keeping themfor a period of 5 years.”
I think all workers should be notified in writing
every day of their exposure levels as indicatedby both alarm metres and glass dosimeters. The
same procedure should be applied to workers
whose daily exposure dose is assumed to belower than 1 mSv.
ⅱ）The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport
and Tourism (MLIT) sent a letter   dated 26
March 2012 entitled“More Social Insurance
Enrolment in the Construction Industry”to chief
secretaries of ministries and agencies, heads ofNotes

ordinance-designated cities, directing managersⅰ）Total annual exposure to radiation should fallof public corporations, and main contractors

within a certain legal limit from 1 April to 31(private entities). Since then, subcontractors have

March of the following year. However, it is reset

been trying to enrol their regular employees.

to‘zero’on next 1 April. This counting system

In this process, irregular workers tend topermits‘low-level radiation exposure’that is

be fired, and utilization of dispatch workers

hazardous to workers’ health. In the case ofby subcontractors reappears when worker

normal work, the Ordinance on Prevention ofshortages sporadically occur.

Ionizing Radiation Hazards limits the exposure

On 22 June 2013, an NPP worker told me that hedose to 100 mSv in five-years or 50 mSv in

had become a regular employee. He had worked

one-year (Ordinance on Prevention of Ionizing

as an individual contractor for a long time but to

Radiation Hazards Article 4) and in the case of

his dismay his income  decreased as a result of

emergency work to 100 mSv (Article 7).

the change in his status. The average monthly

Article9 states :“The employer shall checkwage of regular workers who are employed by

the results of the measurement of the dose

subcontractors and engaged in administration

due to external exposure under the provisions

jobs at work sites is around 300,000 yen, butof paragraph 1 of the preceding Article dailysocial insurance premiums (such as health care,for those workers who are suspected to bepension and long-term medical care) and taxes

exposed to radiation exceeding 1 mSv/day(income tax and resident tax) are deducted fromin terms of the 1 cm dose equivalent. The

their wages.

employer shall calculate and record the dose ofⅲ）According to information I obtained fromradiation exposure for radiation workers listed

interviews conducted on 21 July and 12

in each of the following items without delay by

September 2013, some subcontractors took pains

using the methods designated by the Minister

over the employment continuation of employees.

of Health, Labour and Welfare on the basis ofⅳ）Dr Murata Saburo advocates for NPP workers

the measurement and/or calculation results

suffering from radiation exposure, and he andunder the provisions of paragraphs 3 or 5 of thehis co-workers have been assisting workers

preceding Article, and keep such records for atin their claims for workers. compensation toleast 30 years. This provision shall not apply inclaim compensation for industrial accidents. See

the event an employer turns over such records

Ishimaru Koshiro et.al., Fukushima NPP and

to an organization designated by the Minister ofRadiation Exposed Labour, (Akashi-shoten, 2013).

― 18 ―

社会医学研究．第 31 巻 1 号．Bulletin of Social Medicine, Vol.31（1）2014ⅴ）This man is a subcontractor whose work is notstated that the effects of radiation‘should be

related to NPPs but his father worked in NPPs.

determined by exposed micro area,’ and it hadⅵ）While most of the land bel o n g s t o l o c a ladopted a standard“to estimate the averagecommunities or individual residents, pylons andexposure dose to each organ,”but it ignored

power cables are property of electric power

the significance of internal exposure. In case ofcompanies (EPCs). Lease contracts of the landinternal exposure, intensified exposure at“micro

are designed to permit EPCs to use their towersarea”matters. The ICRP’s standard is mostly

and cables for a long time.

based on data which analysed the effects ofⅶ）A part of“oral history”of NPP workers in early

acute external radiation exposure in Hiroshima

1980s written by this author is found in: Takaki

and Nagasaki (Matsui, Mienai Kyōfu, 2011: 53).

Kazumi,“Research Note on NPP Day-Workers

Established in 1951, the ICRP once consistedin Wakasa Area part 2,”Nihon Fukushi Daigaku

of not only a committee for external exposure

Daigakuin Kenkyu-ronshu (Nihon Fukushi

but for internal exposure as well; however, theUniversity Graduate School’s magazine) Issue 3,

latter soon ceased to exist. Carl Sagan, who was

1988.

elected the first president of the committee forⅷ）Radiation is a kind of “light” which caninternal exposure, later wrote his observations

penetrate substances. Radioactivity has thein his book The Angry Genie. He admitted thatcapacity to produce radiation. Radiation

the ICRP could not escape from the reign of

exposure means that the human body is exposed

the nuclear industry and wrote that he could

to radiation. There are two types of radiation:

understand why the institute had lost its

electromagnetic radiation and corpuscularprestige.

radiation. Radiation exposure may be dividedⅸ）According to interviewee 8 (Mr Y.H.), each

into two categories: external exposure andworker has a film badge and a pocket dosimeterinternal exposure (Matsui Eisuke, Mienai Kyōfu:

to measure the dose of radiation exposure,Hōshasen Naibu Hibaku [Invisible Terror: Internaland equipment readings are compiled every

Exposure], Junpo-sha, 2011: 36-37). All forms

month for each worker. It is not unusual thatof radiation (alpha, beta and gamma) affectdifferences appear between the aggregatedthe body. However, alpha and beta radiation

readings of the film badges and those of pocket

disrupt molecules, so exposure to them is moremeters. When such cases have occurred, Mr Y.H.

dangerous than external exposure to gammasaid, only lower readings have been officiallyradiation. As long as radioactive small particles

recorded.

remain in bodies, internal exposure continues.

ⅹ）In 1980s several people told me the same thing.

（Yagasaki Katsuma,‘Naibu Hibaku’ (Internal

For example, another said,‘If you could see

Radiation Exposure. In Naibu Hibaku kara Inochi

radiation, nobody would work in NPPs.

wo Mamoru (Protecting One’s Life from Internalⅺ）Back in the 1980s, according to the interviewee

Exposure, Shimin to Kagaku no Naibu Hibaku

8 (Mr Y.H.), when a prime contractor lacked

Mondai Kenkyūkai (Association for Citizens andengineers, employees of its subcontractors were

Scientists Concerned about Internal Radiation

falsely hired as the contractor’s employees orExposures (ed.), Junpo-sha, 2012: 81-82)

placed in other positions in different companies.

According to Matsui, internal radiation exposureⅻ）On 4 September 2013, an employer dispatchinghas been ignored because of the International

workers posted a job advertisement the Hello

Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP),Work website of a public employment security

once the most respected institution in theoffice. The employer, based in Tsuruga, Fukui,field. Matsui points out that the ICRP had

wanted to hire workers for“security jobs in― 19 ―

社会医学研究．第 31 巻 1 号．Bulletin of Social Medicine, Vol.31（1）2014

nuclear power plants”as terminable employees.
The ad said that the monthly wage of anexperienced person would be between 160,000
and 180,000 yen.
）KEPCO restricted working-hour of each NPP
worker in reactor buildings to ten hours a day.
On 21 July 2013 an interviewee told me,“Onewould be exposed to radiation before reaching‘hot’points. If you are lucky, it takes five or
six minutes to check switches to move nuclear
fuel. For this procedure alone, an exposure doseof two or three mSv is unavoidable. Sometimes
you have to check twice, so it takes twice as
long, and the exposure dose would be four or six
mSv.”）Employers should not fire employees because
they have reached the exposure dose limit.
Employers have an obligation to retain NPP
workers. This means that employers should
secure other employment for the workers
whose exposure exceeds the limit and should
pay them a substantial wage. Needless to say,
it is unrealistic to place all responsibilities as
employers on the shoulders of subcontractors.
）Exposure to radiation in the work place issometimes fatal. It is hazardous to NPP workers’
health, can have serious consequences long after
the workers retire, and might even cause genetic
damage that will affect future generations.
）On 13 December 2013, the director of the
Tsuruga Labour Standards Inspection Office told
me that most regular inspections of NPPs werecategorized as‘construction work.’Even undercurrent regulations, dispatching workers to do
construction work is forbidden. In my opinion,
these regulat― 20 ―