Yakuza forcing homeless people to work on the Fukushima nuclear plant clear-up Authorities are facing a desperate shortage of workers for the clear-up Subcontractors are said to have reached out to crime bosses Undercover reporter claims to have infiltrated the clear-up operation He says he has 'solid evidence' that people are being forced to work Japan's notorious Yakuza gangsters are forcing homeless people to join the desperate clear-up effort at the Fukushima nuclear plant before simply firing them when they suffer high doses of radiation, it has been claimed. Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) which operates the plant have been struggling to recruit workers who are desperately needed to join the hazardous operation dismantling the plant. As a result Tepco subcontractors reportedly reached out out to the Yakuza for help. The gangsters are said to often provide workers at short notice for large scale construction projects. Coerced: Japanese Yakuza gangsters are reportedly forcing homeless people to join the clean-up operation at the Fukushima nuclear plant Undercover reporter Tomohiko Suzuki claims to have infiltrated the clean-up operation and amassed 'solid evidence' that desperate and homeless men are being brought to Fukushima by the Yakuza. The workers say they were not made aware of the risks and say they have been treated like 'disposable people'. Russian news network RT reports one former worker as saying: 'We were given no insurance for health risks, no radiation meters even. Blast: Smoke rises from Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power following one of the explosions in March 2011 We were treated like nothing, like disposable people - they promised things and then kicked us out when we received a large radiation doze. They promised a lot of money, even signed a long-term contract, but then suddenly terminated it, not even paying me a third of the promised sum. Earlier this year, Japanese police arrested alleged Yakuza gangster Yoshinori Arai who is accused of sending workers to the plant without a license and taking a cut of their wages. Arai is said to have made $60,000 from the scam in over two years. Japanese police say there are up to 50 yakuza gangs with 1,050 members currently operating in Fukushima prefecture. Some of the forced workers are said to owe Yakuza money from gambling debts, others are understood to have family obligations. A special task force has been set up in a bid to stop organised crime profiting from the Fukushima clean-up project operation, but the police need people to testify against the gang bosses before they can act. Mr Suzuki told RT: 'They were given very general information about radiation and most were not even given radiation meters. They could have exposed themselves to large doses without even knowing it. Even the so-called Fukushima 50 - the first group of workers sent there immediately after the disaster - at least three of them were recruited by the yakuza. Tepco say they need a minimum of 12,000 workers at the plant until 2015 alone, but they currently only have 8,000. Tepco officials have denied workers are being mistreated or that organised crime have been involved at any level of the clean-up. Dirty job: Tepco are desperately short of workers needed for the clean-up operation Tepco officials have denied workers are being mistreated or that organised crime have been involved at any level of the clean-up A spokesman said: 'We are doing everything to ensure that our workers operate in safe conditions. We also deal harshly with law-violating subcontractors. Today Tepco claimed to have completed the removal of the first fuel rods from a cooling pool high up in a badly damaged reactor building. The batch of 22 unused fuel assemblies, which each contain 50-70 of the fuel rods, was transferred by a trailer to a safer storage pool. Tepco estimates removing the damaged assemblies from reactor No.4 alone will take a year. Some experts say that timeline is ambitious. Telltale signs: Smoke is seen coming from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Tomioka, Fukushima Prefecture in northeastern Japan on March 21, 2011 Damage: An aerial view of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station is seen in Fukushima Prefecture in this photo taken by the Air Photo Service on March 20, 2011 The removal has to be conducted under water. If the rods are exposed to air or if they break, huge amounts of radioactive gases could be released into the atmosphere. Each assembly weighs around 300 kg (660 pounds) and is 4.5 metres (15 feet) long. The hazardous removal operation has been likened by Arnie Gundersen, a veteran U.S. nuclear engineer and director of Fairewinds Energy Education, to trying to pull cigarettes from a crushed pack.