Retirees Volunteer in Fukushima

A pair of 72-year-old scientists have formed a group of retired skilled workers to venture into Japan's stricken nuclear-power plant. Nobuhiro Shiotani and Yasuteru Yamada enlisted 400 elderly electrical engineers, forklift operators, heavy-construction workers, and military special-forces members to help stabilize the Fukushima plant. "Young workers who may reproduce a younger generation and are themselves more susceptible to the effects of radiation should not be engaged in such work," said Yamada. The government and Tepco have given preliminary approval for the team to enter the facility and help design a replacement for the failed reactor cooling system.