A Kyodo News/Associated Press report, says contracted employees are refusing to work in the higher radiation limits recently set by the government.  This is another reason work is going slow.

Prior to the nuclear disaster at Fukushima Daiichi, the legal limits for employee safety at nuclear plants was set at 100 millisieverts per hour. After the disaster, the Japanese government raised the limit to 250 millisieverts.

Many contracted employees have revealed how bad their working conditions are at nuclear plants, and that’s before the disaster.

In an article in The New York Times, contracted employees said the lowest paid workers are not even given protective gear.  They simply rotate workers in and out of radioactive areas by timing them.  Some contracted employees say this is standard practice, and not because of the disaster.

The article pointed out that it is the business culture of Japan to contract out as much work as possible.  The contractors at the bottom of the ladder are treated the worst.  The article said that at least 89% of employees at Fukushima Daiichi are contracted workers.  Many workers are simply temp workers, getting low pay and no benefits.

When contracted workers tried to leave the Fukushima Daiichi plant, because they could see the tsunami coming, the guards refused to let them out.  The guards wanted to see ID, and get the OK from the workers’ supervisors.

So this is the secret world of corporate controlled nuclear power plants!  At this point all I can say is that they (corporate officials) deserve what they get.