2 workers at Fukushima plant hospitalized after accidentally getting sprayed with radioactive waste

TOKYO (AP) — Two workers at the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant were hospitalized after accidentally getting sprayed with liquid laced with radioactive materials, officials said Thursday.

The incident occurred on Wednesday when a group of workers was cleaning the piping at the Advanced Liquid Processing System. The ALPS is a wastewater filtering facility that is key to the treatment of the radioactive wastewater that accumulates on the plant and its ongoing discharge into the sea.

Four workers were cleaning the piping when a drainage hose suddenly came off. They were splashed with the tainted liquid waste, which was not the wastewater running inside the system.

All four were wearing full face masks, and test results showed none of them had ingested radioactive particles. None have shown any health issues, according to plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, or TEPCO.