Some 800 workers at the damaged Japanese nuclear plant only recently began undergoing medical checkups, according to reports Saturday that added to accusations of lax safety management at the Fukushima Daiichi plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO), dpa reported. The workers have been trying to contain the nuclear crisis at the plant, which has leaked radioactive substances ever since it was hit by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. For almost two months,they did not undergo regular health checkups, Kyodo News reported, citing TEPCO officials. The Health Ministry had initially only required checks to be performed after the crisis was over, assuming a short-term emergency. TEPCO officials say 30 workers have been exposed to more than 100 millisieverts of cumulative radiation, but many of them received their first examinations only this month. The checkups came after the ministry urged employers in late April to immediately examine the health conditions of workers who have been dealing with the crisis for more than a month or who have been exposed to high levels of radiation. On March 16, a day after the ministry raised the legal limit for radiation exposure, it told the companies to check the health of workers exposed to over 100 millisieverts after they finish their work. Although six workers had been exposed to higher levels as of March 19, no checkups were conducted, prompting the ministry to issue its updated directive more than a month later, the officials said. Meanwhile, air decontamination and ventilation systems helped the levels of radiation inside the building of reactor 1 fall, the operator said. The operator said workers would now be able to enter the reactor building wearing full-face masks, without using oxygen tanks. On Thursday, workers entered the building for the first time since a hydrogen explosion on March 12 and connected pipe ducts to a ventilating system. The operator said workers would go in the building again Sunday to measure radiation levels inside. On Friday, the operator boosted the amount of water pumped into the pressure vessel to 8 tons per hour from 6 tons. The temperature in the lower part of the pressure vessel and the pressure inside the containment vessel were stable, standing at 99.4 degrees Celsius and about 1.2 atmospheres, respectively, as of 5 am Saturday (2000 GMT Friday), Jiji reported.
