50 workers are staying in the plant. God bless them.

[FourScore]

:cry:

[Zoeisright]

1. Man, no kidding.

[KittyWampus]

2. Would you do the same? I'd like to think I would. But can't say for sure.

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. With the exposures so far, (they are cumulative)

yes... I am already dead, try to get something done so others may live.

[Kittycat]

7. I'd think that I'd like to see my loved ones, but in reality...

They've probably been exposed to high levels already. And if that's the case, they know they're long term chances of survival are slim. They can do all they can to postpone what's coming, so that others have time to get out of harms way and die knowing that they did their best and maybe saved more lives than those lost. I think I'd rather take that path.

[Stinky The Clown]

10. That was the mindset of Chernobyl's heroes.

And indeed, heroes they are.

[SOS]

25. The Chernobyl heroes literally saved Europe

The heroes of Japan are willing to give their lives to save others.
May they succeed.

[Lucinda]

27. Where is the wall at?

I don't remember seeing that before.

[SOS]

29. It's an AP photo without text, so not sure

Looks like Ukraine though.

[Lucinda]

30. Thanks. I did a search and couldn't find it, so I thought I'd ask.

I thought it was wonderfully done...

[JPZenger]

38. Many rescue workers died after Chernobyl

The coverup of the severity of the Chernobyl disaster while it was occurring resulted in the death of many rescue workers. The fireman and others who responded were not told of the dangers and they responded without proper gear. If they had known the dangers, they might have at least regularly changed their clothes and showered and limited the time of their exposure. Large numbers died. Their trucks are still parked nearby - too radioactive to ever be used again.

[Lucinda]

41. Someone posted this blog about a woman who goes there

http://www.memoryarchive.org/en/Chernobyl_Nuclear_Disaster,_1986,_Elena_Filatova

I hadn't looked at any Chernobyl information in years. There is so much more known now than when I last researched it.
Thank you for the information. It's such a waste, and might have had such a different outcome had people known what they were facing.

[LiberalEsto]

49. They also dragged in workers from Estonia, Latvia

and other former socialist republics, whom they considered less than human.

One of my Estonian cousins was almost abducted by the Soviet Russians to fight the fire at Chernobyl.
Fortunately, he escaped out the back door and hid in the woods for several weeks. Others who were taken did not survive.

[Shining Jack]

52. I used TinEye and found a match on a Vietnamese site:

Monument to victims of the Chernobyl disaster in the city of Slavutich (Ukraine)

(Had to use Google translate)

http://translate.google.ca/translate?hl=en&sl=vi&u=http://vnexpress.net/gl/the-gioi/2006/04/3b9e8e6e/&ei=fQOATamVK8mugQfHiamMCA&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=1&sqi=2&ved=0CBsQ7gEwAA&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dhttp://vnexpress.net/gl/the-gioi/2006/04/3b9e8e6e/%26hl%3Den%26site%3Dwebhp%26prmd%3Divns

Original Page: http://vnexpress.net/gl/the-gioi/2006/04/3b9e8e6e/

[tkmorris]

32. Tineye found it

After some additional digging it appears that the wall is in Slavutich Ukraine. I have no idea why I researched that, just seemed like a challenge.

[Lucinda]

46. Awesome...thank you!

[Dorian Gray]

36. Very true

[Dorian Gray]

35. I don't know

They are brave, brave souls. I wish them the best.

[lovuian]

3. they are heroes

God Bless them

[aquart]

23. Yes.

[Rex]

5. Brave people, don't know if I would be that brave

and I hope to never find out. We are seeing what sacrifice is all about...let us hope they can do something to stop a global event.

[quinnox]

6. wow, courageous folks, I hope their families are taken care of

financially by the Japanese government if anything happens to them.

[Poll_Blind]

8. Damn...

:cry:

PB

[AmBlue]

9. If there ever were angels...

I hope they're walking with these heroic souls. Yes, indeed... heaven bless them one and all.

[postulater]

11. The good of the many outweigh the good of the one.

-Spock

[Nordmadr]

37. This ole Trekkie remembers it as the 'needs' but the point

is the same. May they be safe, and without safety, may they have peace.

[postulater]

51. You're probably right.

[CLANG]

45. KHAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Spock: Don't grieve, Admiral. It is logical. The needs of the many outweigh...
Kirk: ...the needs of the few...
Spock: ...Or the one. I never took the Kobayashi Maru test until now. What do you think of my solution?
Spock: I have been and always shall be your friend.

Spock: Live long and prosper.

[Lynx]

48. Thus Spock died of radiation poisoning

Though Vulcans are more resistant, they are not immune.
What was not shown was: death from radiation poisoning is quite gruesome. You don't wanna know.
May every power that could ever be, watch over those heroic Earthpersons. May their names live in the history of humanity forever!

[CLANG]

54. Amen to that.

[Lifelong Protester]

12. Wow. this thing is just getting worse, isn't it? These folks are

more than brave, they are selfless in this.

[cilla4progress]

13. Bless their souls.

They are sacrificing their lives, they know it. Heroic. I guess these are the things we should cling to as we move through this horrific nightmare...the goodness in people - grace.

[Iwasthere]

14. I don't get it

They have suits available to them, they have masks and rooms that are sealed I have no doubt, as well as showers and solutions to thouroughly clean skin, and iodide pills etc,... Why are they presumed dead by everyone?

[Statistical]

17. Yeah the presumption is somewhat premature at this point.

However showers, and masks, and idodide solutions are only good at reducing contamination.

Protection from radioactive material they do nothing about actual radiation. Those guys are picking up some significant doses. Front gate is 8mSv per hour. Lets assume in the plant it is 5x that 40mSv per hour. They have been working for what 5 days now. That is 120 hours. That is up to 5,000 mSv or 5S. That is dangerously high. Maybe they don't all die but a significant number will. As time goes on the exposure levels will only increase. Say the situation gets worse and exposure rates double. They could pickup 20S over next week. Beyond 10S you are talking 100% mortality. Beyond 30S you are talking about 100% immediate mortality.

[jpak]

43. The dose rates were 100-400 mSv per hour yesterday at the gate and control room

n/t

[liberation]

42. Yeah, it is like a walk in the park and stuff

:-/

[Salviati]

15. Fuck the so called "john galts" of the world - These people are REAL heros.

[applegrove]

18. That is so true.

[Thunderstruck]

16. Their names will go down in the chronicles of human history. They will not be forgotten.

They will be remembered forevermore as brave and honorable and selfless heroes.

[Cetacea]

21. +1k

[yawnmaster]

26. are their names published somewhere? eom

[BeFree]

34. They certainly should be known

But they are just peons, like us, so...........

[jannyk]

19. So brave, so selfless and so very, very sad.

I also feel for their spouses/families - the horrors they must be gong through I cannot imagine.

:cry:

[Maru Kitteh]

20. Amen. The ability of people to sacrifice themselves, not just in a fleeting moment -

but with great and pained deliberateness like this for the greater good of their fellow humans is just incredible.

[AndyTiedye]

22. My Heart Goes Out to Them and Their Families

Some of them are going to come back in lead coffins. :cry:

[Festivito]

24. How will the rich respect them if we they don't negotiate their new wages first?

Pardon my bitter cynicism. If not for us bringing this to light, they would and will be forgotten, and their families and friends left to rot -- after all, capitalism matters more than socialism. So, for some, they will be treated as fools.

They are my heroes.

[BeFree]

28. Kamikaze

The term has a new and finally good appellation.

Personally thanking these people would be a real pleasure.

Alas, all we can do is try to make sure no one else ever has to sacrifice so much for something that should not have happened.

[hamsterjill]

31. I am humbled by their bravery and selflessness.

I know it looks bad for them, but I'm still going to hope that these heroes come out alive.

[slackmaster]

33. I hope they're what some might call "older" workers, i.e. over age 50 or so

People who aren't likely to become parents in the future, and aren't expected to live long enough to make the long-term development of cancers an issue.

Before anyone accuses me of callousness and has an inappropriate negative emotional reaction to my statement, I'm 53 years old.

[Hannah Bell]

39. they're rotating the workers; they stay in until they take maximum dose then

they put a new group in.

the workers who were evacuated will go back in (assuming they have the skills needed currently).

i heard.

also heard they're calling up retired nuke workers as well. because once everyone with the skills has taken max dose there's no alternative but to take more unless they can get more people who haven't.

[slackmaster]

40. Back in the late 1970s the San Onofre plant hired hundreds of temporary "jumpers" to work on repairs

The job entailed inserting sleeves inside of existing cooling pipes to prevent leaks on the old Unit 1 reactor, which has since been decommissioned.

I knew a man who did that work. He had to put on a full suit of protective clothing and respirator, and was not permitted to stay inside of hot area of the plant for more than 3 minutes per shift IIRC - hence the term "jumper".

My acquaintance was a drug addict in his 20s. The pay was pretty good, but he wanted more money. He devised two false identities in addition to his real name so he could work three shifts in a day.

Bringing in retired workers makes a lot of sense because of their age and experience.

[webdiva]

44. :(

Sayin a prayer for them and their families!

[Jamastiene]

47. .

:cry:

[Jacobin]

50. Two are now missing from an explosing at one reactor site

RIP, brave men and women

[Vehl]

53. The greatest of Heroes

"When you go home Tell them of us and say
For your tomorrow We gave our today"


I hope against hope that somehow they are able to come out of this without any permanent/long term damage. but sadly the prospects do not look good. These people willingly sacrifice their lives for the betterment of the many. There is no greater heroism than this.

I salute these brave men

[shanti]

55. God bless them n/t

[pitohui]

56. they are doing what needs to be done, these are true heroes

god bless them? they bless god by their existence...and i do not believe god is offended that i say so, if he is, the blame is mine and no one else's