"I just wanted people to understand that there are many people fighting under harsh circumstances in the nuclear plants," one worker wrote in an email. They get two meals a day: Typically, vegetable juice and 30 crackers each for breakfast, and instant rice for dinner. The high levels of contamination make it hard to get supplies to them, so food and water are scarce. The Fukushima 50 aren't on their own anymore - there are now about 400 Tokyo Electric Power Co. "But they say high radioactivity is everywhere and I think this will not save him." "My son has been sleeping on a desk because he is afraid to lie on the floor," said the woman who spoke to Fox News. They sleep in conference rooms, hallways, and stairwells, where each worker gets one blanket, and a lead mat to shield them from radiation. The Fukushima 50 wear protective suits, and those working in highly radioactive areas, such as the fuel rod containment chambers, can only stay there for 15 minutes at a time. "They know it is impossible for them not to have been exposed to lethal doses of radiation." "They have accepted they will all probably die from radiation sickness in the short term or cancer in the long-term," she said. Through tears, the mother of a 32-year-old worker told Fox News by phone that her son and his colleagues know they are probably sacrificing their lives, and could have only weeks or months to live. They have been exposed to extremely high doses of radiation, and several have been treated for radiation burns. Distraught relatives say that many of the plant's workers assume they are undertaking a suicide mission. Here, a glimpse of the life-threatening ordeal of the Fukushima 50: Now, details of the conditions and fears of the so-called Fukushima 50 - the small group that stayed behind when most of the plant's workers were evacuated after the March 11 tsunami - have begun to emerge. Employees at Japan's stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant have been hailed as heroes for subjecting themselves to dangerous levels of radiation while they desperately labor to prevent a massive meltdown.
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