Workers wearing protective suits conduct decontamination operation to the equipments for removal spent fuel rods from the spent fuel pool inside the No.4 reactor building at the tunami-crippled Tokyo Electric Power Co's (TEPCO) Fukushima Daiichi nuclear p
Workers wearing protective suits conduct decontamination operation to the equipments for removal spent fuel rods from the spent fuel pool inside the No.4 reactor building at the tunami-crippled Tokyo Electric Power Co's (TEPCO) Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima prefecture, in this photo released by Kyodo April 15, 2014. Akira Ono, manager of the Fukushima nuclear power plant, admitted to embarrassment that repeated efforts have failed to bring under control the problem of radioactive water, eight months after Japan's prime minister told the world the matter was resolved. Tokyo Electric Power Co, the
Workers wearing protective suits conduct decontamination operation to the equipments for removal spent fuel rods from the spent fuel pool inside the No.4 reactor building at the tunami-crippled Tokyo Electric Power Co's (TEPCO) Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima prefecture, in this photo released by Kyodo April 15, 2014. Akira Ono, manager of the Fukushima nuclear power plant, admitted to embarrassment that repeated efforts have failed to bring under control the problem of radioactive water, eight months after Japan's prime minister told the world the matter was resolved. Tokyo Electric Power Co, the plant's operator, has been fighting a daily battle against contaminated water since Fukushima was wrecked by a March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. To match story JAPAN-FUKUSHIMA/WATER Picture taken April 15, 2014. Mandatory credit. REUTERS/Kyodo

In what could be a historical milestone related to the Fukushima nuclear power plant meltdown in March 2011, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) has been slapped with a lawsuit by no other than a worker who used to work in the crippled facility.

The 48-year-old worker, part of a 6-man team sent to lay electric cables at the basement of the No. 3 reactor turbine building 13 days after the disaster, wants a compensation of 11 million yen ($110,000) from TEPCO.

"I wish (the utility) had informed us of possible risks in advance," Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun quoted the man as saying at a news conference in Tokyo. "I want (TEPCO) to create safer conditions for workers because the decommissioning of the reactors will not finish anytime soon."

The complainant asked to be identified only by his first name, Shinichi, wary of the social stigma that he could create because of potentially upsetting the social order in Japan.

The lawsuit, filed at the Iwaki branch of the Fukushima District Court, was the very first made by a Fukushima worker.

The man said three of his colleagues waded through contaminated water up to their ankles. They were later hospitalised and believed to have been exposed to up to 180 millisieverts of radiation.

Shinichi, meantime, claimed he worked near a contaminated puddle for 90 minutes.

He said before accepting their task orders, TEPCO assured them the basement was safe to work in, despite already being aware of the highly contaminated water around the No. 1 reactor on March 18, 2011.

"That is a breach of responsibility to ensure safety," the man said. "(The utility) put us in a position of being exposed to high doses of radiation unnecessarily."