One of the few articles I've seen about the workers is this New York Times article. Among other factoids, it turns out that not all of the 50 skeleton crew are TEPCO employees, but include some soldiers, police, and fire fighters, too.

Doug, it seems you are correct about the comraderie and dedication of these utility workers. I guess some things transcend all cultures.

I certainly hope that the pull back is a short one, just to give radiation levels time to subside before they go back in. Because if the levels don't drop and they can't get back to manual cooling operations...