rods cool, the water would also have a shielding effect on the radioactivity as well. but if the pools are destroyed or empty or leaking or if the water in them is heating up to the point where it may boil off, then the fuel rods in those pools will heat up and start to break down and they will release their radioactivity and it will go into the air. and that may be what has already happened. that may be the cause of the levels of radioactivity at daiichi now that are described as extremely high. radioactivity levels in the air above these karmic mccarthy meets mad max destroyed reactor buildings, radioactivity levels so high that they turned back japanese security forces aircraft trying to get close enough to help. radioactivity levels on the ground at the site high enough to keep japanese water cannon trucks further away than the 50 yards they wanted to set up at in order to shoot water into those reactors. and this is not just a tragedy for those workers working at