Tokyo/Fukushima:
Japan's Health Minister Ritsuo Hosokawa said on Tuesday that he has ordered some staff at the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant to stop working amid concerns that two workers might have exceeded a radiation exposure limit.
The plant's owner, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), said on Monday that the two control room operators are being tested further and don't have immediate health problems.
If confirmed, they would be the first men to reach the government-set limit.
TEPCO has been criticised for not fully disclosing the extent of radiation exposures by the plant workers or their working conditions, raising suspicion that they may not be closely monitored or informed of potential risks.
The conventional limit of 100 millisieverts was raised to 250 millisieverts for male workers - equivalent of more than 30 CT scans - to confront the problems the 11 March earthquake and tsunami set off at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant.
Thirty plant workers have exceeded 100 millisieverts, according to TEPCO.
The two men were responsible for central control rooms at Unit 3 and 4 reactors when the disasters knocked out the plant's power and cooling functions.