to an anonymous senior nuclear executive that the paper described as having broad contacts in japan. the executive says there is a long vertical crack running down the side of the reactor vessel itself. the severity of the radiation burns to the injured workers are consistent with contamination by water that had been in contact with damaged fuel rods. quoting the executive directly, quote, there is a definite, definite crack in the vessel. it s up and down and it s large. the problem with cracks is that they do not get smaller. how important is that if it s true? and do the injuries to those heroic workers at daiichi imply that it is true? and does the fact that this is one reactor that includes plutonium in the fuel mix make this a worse situation than would be true if it happened at the other reactors? today japanese authorities tried to bring down worries by saying the reactors were stable. they expanded evacuation advice.