The faceless Fukushima 50 may be Japan's last hope

TOKYO - They crawl through the labyrinths of the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant, the utter darkness they are working in pierced only by their flashlights, all the while listening out for periodic explosions as hydrogen gas escaping from the crippled reactors ignites on contact with air.

The faceless technicians - who came to be known as the Fukushima 50 - breathe through uncomfortable respirators or carry heavy oxygen tanks on their backs. They wear white, full-body jumpsuits with snug-fitting hoods that provide scant protection from the invisible radiation. They are perhaps Japan's last chance of preventing a broader nuclear catastrophe.

Aware that their loved ones were only kilometres from the crippled nuclear facility, these 50 were the only people who remained at the plant. The unnamed operators have volunteered, or been assigned, to pump seawater on dangerously exposed nuclear fuel, already thought to be partly melting and spewing radioactive material, to prevent full meltdowns. The nuclear power industry's equivalent of frontline soldiers - the sacrifice of these men has earned them the admiration of the Japanese public.

ORIGINAL SOURCE