作業員被曝―放射線と闘う人の安全を

2011/03/27
--The Asahi Shimbun, March 26
EDITORIAL: Safety of workers fighting the nuclear crisis must be ensured
作業員被曝―放射線と闘う人の安全を

Safety must be ensured for the workers on the front line of the battle to contain the nuclear crisis triggered by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
　原発事故の最前線で働く人たちの安全を確保しなくてはならない。

Three workers trying to cool a reactor at the quake-stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant were exposed to high levels of radioactivity and rushed to a hospital.
　東京電力の福島第一原子力発電所で作業していた３人が、大量の放射線を浴び、病院に運ばれた。

They worked while they were ankle deep in highly radioactive water. Two of them are feared to have suffered radiation burns below their knees.
強い放射能を帯びた水につかりながら作業した。放射線によるやけどを足に負った恐れがある。

The Nos. 1 -- 4 reactors at the Fukushima plant are still in dangerous and volatile conditions. It is imperative to restore the cooling systems for these reactors and their spent fuel pools to stabilize the situation.
　第一原発１～４号機の状況はいずれも予断を許さない。このすべてで原子炉や核燃料プールの冷却を復活させ、安定させなければならない。

To achieve that goal, a mountain of tasks must be carried out in areas contaminated with high levels of radioactivity.
　そのためには放射線レベルの高い場所での作業が山のように待っている。

Completing the mission will take at least a month, according to one estimate. This is going to be a long, drawn-out battle.
うまくいっても１カ月はかかるとの見通しもある。長期化は避けられない。

People from various companies and organizations are working at the crippled plant, tackling a broad array of tasks according to their skills and expertise.
　現場では、技術に応じて様々な所属の人が働いている。

To get the reactors under control, a system needs to be established to limit the risks for these workers.
原発の制御を取り戻すためには、危険を限定して働ける仕組みが必要だ。

The three workers were trying to connect cables in the basement of the building housing a turbine for power generation adjacent to the building containing the No. 3 reactor. According to the plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., two of them entered the facility wearing ordinary work shoes because there had been nothing more than puddles of water with low levels of radioactivity on the floor on the previous day.
　３人は、３号機の原子炉の建屋に隣接する発電用タービンがある建物の地下で、ケーブルをつなぐ作業をしていた。前日まで地下室は水たまり程度で放射能レベルも低かったため、うち２人は短靴で入ったという。

Their feet were exposed to 2 to 6 sieverts of radioactivity, far above the safety limit of 1 sievert for skin exposure to radiation during such emergency work.
　足の被曝（ひばく）は２～６シーベルト。緊急作業時に皮膚に受けてもいい限度（１シーベルト）を大きく超えていた。

The workers' dosemeters attached to the upper body part of their outfits showed radiation amounts totaling about 180 millisieverts, close to the upper limit of 250.
上半身につけた放射線量計でも、被曝線量は約１８０ミリシーベルトと、上限の２５０ミリシーベルトに近かった。

The water in the basement was found to contain 10,000 times the level of radioactivity normally detected in cooling water circulating within a reactor. The figure clearly indicates the seriousness of the situation. In addition, the conditions change constantly.
　地下室の水の放射能レベルを調べたところ、ふだん原子炉の中を循環している冷却水の１万倍にも達していた。事態の深刻さがわかる。しかも状況は刻々と変わる。

The harshness and dangerousness of the working conditions at the sites is shocking, which makes it all the more depressing to know that efforts to restore safety to the plant depend on people working under these conditions.
　その作業環境の厳しさに驚くとともに、そこで働く人たちに原子炉の安全を託さざるを得ない状況に胸がつまる思いだ。

What is disturbing is the fact that there was no person to monitor the levels of radioactivity at the site when the three workers were doing their jobs.
　残念なのは、この現場には放射線量を見張る管理員がいなかったことだ。

Workers engaged in tasks in an area with high radiation levels must take turns at short intervals for the sake of their health.
放射能レベルの高い現場では、短い時間で交代しながらの作業になる。

Monitoring of the radiation levels at such worksites must never be neglected.
線量の監視を怠ってはならない。

Tokyo Electric Power Co. should make every possible effort to ensure the safety of workers.
東電は万全を期してほしい。

It is crucial to secure enough manpower to staff the teams required to carry out the tasks involved over an extended period of time until the nuclear power plant is stabilized.
　これから原発を安定させるまでの長い期間に向けて、十分な態勢で作業ができる人員の確保が大切になる。

The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has an important role to play in this respect.
そのために原子力安全・保安院の果たす役割は大きい。

The government needs to obtain maximum assistance and cooperation from various organizations, including reinforcements from other electric power companies and manufacturers.
必要ならば他の電力会社やメーカーからさらに応援を求めることもふくめ、政府として最大限の支援を集める必要がある。

Some 700 employees of TEPCO and affiliated companies are currently working at the Fukushima power station. Many of them come from local communities in the quake-hit areas. Some of them have had their houses swept away by the tsunami, while others are worried about missing family members. They are reportedly close to their limits of exhaustion.
　第一原発ではいま、東電や関連会社などの約７００人が作業している。地元出身の人も多く、津波で家を流されたり、行方不明の家族を案じたりしながら働き続け、疲労も限界という。

Some of them can only get one or two hours of sleep in a chair a day.
睡眠は椅子に座ったまま１～２時間、という人もいるそうだ。

A system should be created swiftly to ensure that the people engaged in the heroic efforts to defuse this national crisis will receive all the possible support from both the government and the private sector, including from the nuclear power industry, nuclear safety experts and medical institutions.
　国家的危機の現場で奮闘する人たちのために、原子力産業や安全確保の専門家、医療部門はもとより、政府、民間をあげて支える態勢を作りたい。