Seniors Volunteer for Risky Work in Fukushima
MALVEAUX: A touching display of courage and sacrifice from seniors in Japan. Fully aware of the risks, they are lining up to work at the crippled and contaminated Fukushima nuclear plant. Our Kyung Lah reports from Tokyo.</s>KYUNG LAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In this cramped office, these seniors are leading the charge to get retirees back on the job, for one last and critical call. (on camera): You want to do this.</s>YASUTERU YAMADA, RETIREE: Yes, sure. Why not?</s>LAH: Why?</s>YAMADA: I'm the one of the eldest people.</s>LAY (voice-over): Age, says 72-year-old Yasuteru Yamada, is a plus, when the work site is the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, a place still dangerous, highly contaminated with radiation after the tsunami caused a full meltdown in at least one of the reactors. These workers are the frontline to control the national crisis at high risk of exposure and long-term health impacts. The elderly, says this group, don't worry about much, anything belong term. "Death becomes familiar as we get older," says 69-year-old Kazuko Sasaki. "We have a feeling death is waiting for us. Not that I want to die, but we're not afraid of it." She's not the only one. Two hundred and fifty volunteers, all over the age of 60, are now compiled in this database. Calling into the group, volunteering to work at the plant, a team calling themselves the "Skilled Veterans Corps." An idea that Japan's point man to the nuclear crisis initially brushed off last week, saying, quote, "our principle is we should stick to procedures that would not require such a 'suicide corps.'" A label these seniors reject, saying they prefer doing what's right. "My generation, the old generation, promoted the nuclear plants. If we don't take responsibility, who will?" (on camera): We called TEPCO at their Tokyo headquarters. They would not speak to CNN on camera. A spokesperson had this to say, though, about the elderly volunteers, "Thanks, but no thanks. We have plenty of employees." The seniors, though, don't buy it. The government has already told a nuclear regulatory agency that it needs to come up with a system to boost the number of workers, implying they are concerned about a worker shortage. (voice-over): Workers like Hikaru Tagawa, a temp who once worked at the Fukushima plant. "Nothing can make me go back to work there," he says. He calls the levels of radiation too dangerous. Whether concerns of a worker shortage or the persuasive seniors, just this week, the same government point man who called the seniors a "suicide corps" appears to be less resistant to the idea of elderly volunteers. He now says, "I met the leader of the group," says Goshi Hosono, "and we have started a discussion, looking for any possible, practical next step." (on camera): Do you think that the government will let your group work at the plant?</s>YAMADA: Yes, sure.</s>LAH (voice-over): One more chance, say these graying citizens, to truly serve in the twilight of their lives. Kyung Lah, CNN, Tokyo.