melting point and officials say the cooling pool there is almost empty. there also are problems with a pool for spent fuel rods at reactor four at fukushima and the u.s. nuclear chief says the water evaporated. if they are exposed they can catch fire, melt, and release large amounts of ridation into the air. we are told crews are still working on a new power line that would restore the electricity there in theory and get the water pumps back up and running. officials say the cold snap is slowing down their effort but not word on when that cable might be connected. in the meantime, 200 courageous plant workers, 180 of them, are jack belling to cool the reactors by hand. they are risking their lives to prevent a catastrophe. a total meltdown is a stunning blow after the earthquake and tsunami that devastated the northeast portion of japan.
those are the firefighters. in chernobyl, moscow firefighter like victor berken rushed straight in to the more than 300 toxic fires that were burning in chernobyl. out of control. he knew the risks. he knew what would happen if they didn t go in. so he drove his truck 50 feet from the reactor. got in. and with his bare hands took the fire hose and began siphoning water from the cooling pool. he started feeling the effects of radiation within seconds. within about a minute he began to vomit over and over again. he eventually was too dizzy and too weak to continue to battle the blaze. for over an hour he did it while vomiting. he finally couldn t do it anymore. he survived but dozens of his colleagues died a day fighting fires at chernobyl, which they contained in five hours.
levels increased rapidly. for a society that uses words carefully, and use nuance tones increase rapidly is a statement of great substance. let s put the facts together. reactor number 1, 70% exposed. which is tantamount to a meltdown. reactor number 2, 33% compromised. which is tantamount to something toward meltdown. reactor number 4, a fire yesterday, then it was put out oromething like that. then today a fire again at reactor number 4. the reactor where the rods were in a cooling pool they had been off-line before putting off steam they don t have enough water they will contaminate the air potentially the water and ground there. was a fire there. they told us they got that under control. they did not tell us they put that fire out that was significant. the fire is out never her. the fire is control is what we
japan at the nuclear facility which we have been speaking. reactor number four has the spent nuclear fuel rods and that reactor was not online when the, lit and the tsunami came after it but, instead, the fuel rods are outside a containment core and in a pool designed to keep them cool. now, the united states nuclear agency says that all of the water in that pool has evaporated. what does that mean? from the department of nuclear engineering at university of california, explain to us what this means, sir. guest: well, if there is not enough water in the cooling pool, that means . shepard: there is no water. guest: that means in this case there is fresh spent fuel in that pool so they have been taken out just months ago or so, from the actual reactor, and there is still heed that needs
levels increased rapidly. for a society that uses words carefully, and use nuance tones increase rapidly is a statement of great substance. let s put the facts together. reactor number 1, 70% exposed. which is tantamount to a meltdown. reactor number 2, 33% compromised. which is tantamount to something toward meltdown. reactor number 4, a fire yesterday, then it was put out or something like that. then today a fire again at reactor number 4. the reactor where the rods were in a cooling pool they had been off-line before putting off steam they don t have enough water they will contaminate the air potentially the water and ground there. was a fire there. they told us they got that under control. they did not tell us they put that fire out that was significant. the fire is out never her. the fire is control is what we