Six workers at Japan’s crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactor were doused with highly radioactive water, the latest in a string of accidents that highlight the extremely precarious situation at the troubled facility.

“It is serious in that it was another problem caused by carelessness, but I do not believe it is a seriously troubling dosage,” said Shunichi Tanaka, chairman of Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority, chalking it up to another case of worker error.  Tanaka also acknowledges that Fukushima worker morale is plunging.

A worker mistakenly detached a pipe connected to the system designed to desalinate contaminated water once it has been treated to reduce its cesium content.  A Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) spokesman says the workers did not ingest any of the contaminated water.

TEPCO has been unable to deal with disposing the contaminated water, which is stored in around 1,000 tanks, which have frequently leaked.  The company admits some of it has leaked into the Pacific Ocean.