FUKUSHIMA — At the edge of a no-man's land around the Fukushima No. 1 reactor complex lies a grassy athletic village that now serves as base camp for an army of workers battling the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.
In regular rotation, groups are bused out to three-day shifts of punishing work at the water-logged, radiation-spewing complex. They stop only to gulp canned food and steal a nap on the floor, before they can return to J-Village, an oasis on the outskirts of an evacuated wasteland.
To recognize the dedication of the hundreds of workers risking their lives, Prime Minister Naoto Kan visited J-Village on Saturday, the second time he has ventured into the nuclear crisis zone since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami spawned the disaster.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.