新聞週間特集：「原発事故と報道」報告（その３）◇作業員の線量管理に疑問

(Mainichi Japan) October 22, 2011
Journalists keep close eye on Fukushima nuclear worker radiation exposure (Part 3)
新聞週間特集：「原発事故と報道」報告（その３）◇作業員の線量管理に疑問

The wide perception gap that has surfaced between Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the tsunami-hit Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, the government and other parties has raised serious questions about the management of plant workers' radiation exposure.
（この部分の英訳なし＾＾）
記者たちは避難所や、拠点となっていた福島県いわき市の旅館を回り、作業員の声に耳を傾けた。

Shortly after the plant was stricken with meltdowns and hydrogen explosions in March, Mainichi reporters, mainly those with the Tokyo City News Department, began interviewing workers struggling to bring the crippled facility under control.
　東京電力福島第１原発の事故から間もなく、収束作業の実態を探る取材が始まった。中心となったのは東京社会部。

Most of the workers are from Fukushima Prefecture, and many of them commute to the plant from shelters or dorms where they were taking refuge after their homes were badly damaged in March 11's natural disasters.
収束作業に当たる人たちの多くは地元出身者で、避難先から現場に通う人も少なくなかった。

A 30-year-old worker for a sub-subcontractor said he had been told by an employee of the subcontractor, "We won't write down the amount of radiation you were exposed to during the latest work on your radiation management record. You don't have to worry about it."
　「今回の作業で受けた被ばく線量は放射線管理手帳に載らない。安心していいから」。ある２次下請けの作業員（３０）は、１次下請けの社員にそう告げられたことを明らかにした。

Radiation exposure amounts and the results of regular medical exams are supposed to be stated clearly on each worker's radiation management record.
　放射線管理手帳は作業員一人一人の被ばく線量や健康診断結果を記載する。

If workers suffer from cancer in the future, there will be no proof of the causal relationship between their radiation exposure and the disease unless such data is included in their radiation management records, making them ineligible for workers' accident compensation benefits.
「そこに載せないとなると、将来本人ががんになっても証拠がなく、労災認定（補償）されなくなってしまう。本当か」

Further interviews with the utility, the government organizations concerned including the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, and other parties have revealed there was a wide perception gap among them over maximum exposure limits for workers.
　そんな疑問から取材を進めると、背景に線量を巡る混乱があることが分かった。

Health ministry regulations stipulate that nuclear power station workers can be exposed to a maximum of 100 millisieverts over five years, and 50 millisieverts in a single year.
　厚生労働省は法令や規則で、作業員の被ばく線量を５年間で１００ミリシーベルト、１年間では５０ミリシーベルトに抑えるよう定めている（通常規則）。

However, in the case of an emergency such as a nuclear accident, they can be exposed to up to 100 millisieverts during work to bring the plant under control.
ただし原発事故など緊急時には一連の作業で上限１００ミリシーベルトまで受けることができ、

In the Fukushima nuclear crisis, the ministry raised the upper limit to 250 millisieverts.
今回の原発事故に限ってはこの上限を２５０ミリシーベルトに引き上げていた。

The ministry concluded that workers who are exposed to 100 to 250 millisieverts during efforts to tame the Fukushima nuclear crisis must be withdrawn from further work for five years on the grounds that the conventional regulations apply to the Fukushima crisis.
　ところが、この２５０ミリシーベルトと通常規則との兼ね合いを巡り、厚労省と東電などとの間で見解が違っていた。厚労省は第１原発の作業でも通常規則が適用されるとして、１００～２５０ミリシーベルトを浴びた場合は今後５年間、作業に従事できないとの見解だった。

However, TEPCO was of the view that the conventional regulations do not apply to the work at the Fukushima plant, arguing that workers should not be deprived of employment for long periods.
　一方、「それでは就労の機会を相当年数奪うことになる」として、東電などは「通常規則とは別枠」と考えていた。

Because of this, the subcontractor omitted the levels of radiation workers were exposed to from their radiation management records.
これが「線量を手帳に載せない」という運用につながっていた。

"In the end, we are the ones who are going to be left holding the bag," a 28-year-old worker lamented in an interview with the Mainichi.
　「最後にババを引くのは自分たち」と別の作業員（２８）は訴えた。

The Mainichi published an article about the omission of exposure data from the 30-year-old worker's radiation management record on the front page of its April 21 morning edition.
「原発作業員　被ばく線量　管理手帳記載せず」との記事は４月２１日朝刊の１面トップに掲載された。

It was subsequently learned that at least one TEPCO employee had been exposed to more than 250 millisieverts, prompting the ministry to step up its radiation management instructions to the utility.
　その後、２５０ミリシーベルトを超える東電社員の存在も判明し、厚労省は指導を強化した。

There have been some cases of plant workers being exposed to excessive levels of radiation during their work because of sloppy management.
　ずさんな管理のために作業員が被ばくするケースが目立つ。

We are determined to continue to shed light on how workers' radiation exposure is being handled in an effort to improve their working environment.
最前線の労働環境が少しでも改善されるよう、光を当て続けたい。

(By Satoshi Kusakabe, Takayuki Hakamada and Akiyo Ichikawa, Mainichi Shimbun)
＜東京社会部・日下部聡、東京社会部・袴田貴行、三陸支援支局・市川明代（前東京社会部）＞

毎日新聞　2011年10月18日　東京朝刊