Grim conditions add to misery of nuclear heroes

TOKYO - Biscuits and vegetable juice for breakfast, no lunch and a packet of rice with canned fish or meat for supper. No showers, no beds and virtually never a change of clothes.

That's the grim lot of hundreds of workers toiling in perilous conditions to avert a catastrophic nuclear meltdown at Japan's earthquake-wrecked Fukushima power plant.

"This is similar to a war zone and things need to be addressed, including providing proper back-up for the workers who are under immense stress," said Hirotada Hirose, professor of disaster psychology at Tokyo Woman's Christian University.