TEPCO ordered to improve working conditions at crisis-hit nuclear plant

TOKYO, June 10 Kyodo - The labor ministry ordered Tokyo Electric Power Co. on Friday to improve working conditions for personnel at the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant after two workers were exposed to radiation well above the maximum allowable emergency limit.
The order follows an on-site inspection earlier in the week conducted by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare at the plant crippled since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
The utility known as TEPCO said last week that the two workers were found to have been exposed to radiation above the limit of 250 millisieverts set for the current emergency situation.
According to the ministry, the two men had been working in the central control room of the Nos. 3 and 4 reactors and in a building housing a crisis control center after the disaster hit the complex. They were also engaged in outdoor work, the ministry said.
The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said the two men absorbed over 600 millisieverts of radiation.
The agency also ordered TEPCO to find out how their radiation exposure occurred and report preventive measures to the agency.