Last Defense at Troubled Reactors: 50 Japanese Workers

In a disaster, society often depends on a few courageous individuals who risk their lives to stabilize equipment and minimize damage. The earthquake and tsunami in Japan battered the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, adding new dangers to operations that had already carried ample risks. Most staff was evacuated, but a small crew volunteered to stay behind, working with flashlights and last-ditch measures, using seawater to cool the station’s reactors and prevent full meltdown of nuclear rods. “The workers are being asked to make escalating – and perhaps existential – sacrifices that so far are being only implicitly acknowledged,” notes the New York Times, adding that “Japanese are raised to believe that individuals sacrifice for the good of the group.” The industry learned much from heroic efforts to contain the Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986 – the Soviet Union later conscripted more than 600,000 for the cleanup – and work at Fukushima will undoubtedly provide additional lessons. – YaleGlobal