TOKYO, September 2 (RIA Novosti) - Four workers employed in the decommissioning of the Fukushima nuclear power plant plan to sue Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), seeking to get compensation for life and health risks, Japanese media reported Tuesday.
Four liquidators, two of who continue working on the nuclear plant, are planning to ask TEPCO for $865,000 in compensation. The suit is expected to be filed in the city of Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture.
Since May 2011, the liquidators have been conducting a cleanup of radioactive debris and have been patrolling the territory around the cisterns full of contaminated water. The workers say they have not received any increase in salary, despite the company’s promises to pay additional $96 to $960 per day to each liquidator.
The liquidators working at Fukushima are employed by multiple subcontracting organizations, but they see TEPCO as responsible for controlling the safety and providing adequate remuneration for duties performed.
On March 2011, the Fukushima nuclear power plant was hit by a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and a subsequent tsunami, which have caused a partial meltdown of three of the plant’s nuclear reactors. The radiation from the plant leaked into the atmosphere, soil and sea.
The incident is the world’s worst nuclear disaster since the Chernobyl catastrophe of 1986. Full liquidation of its consequences is expected to take about 40 years.
