Elders offer help at Japan’s crippled reactor

New York Times : The Skilled Veteran Corps has been both lionized as a group of self-sacrificing patriots and derided as a would-be suicide corps, writes Ken Belson for the New York Times. The man who founded it, however, has neither extreme in mind; he simply thinks that it would be a good idea for retired engineers and other specialists with applicable skills to assist with the cleanup efforts at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant. Yasuteru Yamada, a 72-year-old retired engineer, founded the group in early April with Nobuhiro Shiotani, a childhood friend and fellow engineer. Yamada, via his blog , called on people over age 60 who had the necessary physical strength and relevant skills to volunteer. About 400 people have volunteered thus far and donations are at about 4.3 million yen ($54 000). The Japanese government is beginning to accept the idea, after some initial skepticism; Yamada and Shiotani say that dealing with officials at Tokyo Electric Power may be the most difficult part of their job. Tepco has said that it is highly appreciative of the offer of help and that it is still assessing what the volunteers are capable of doing and ways to ensure their safety.