[link to www.katu.com]

Expert: ‘Breach of containment’ scariest words for scientists

By Valerie Hurst KATU News and KATU.com Staff

PORTLAND, Ore. – A physicist who’s been on national news talking about the Japanese nuclear crisis said Friday the word “breach” is one of the most frightening words known to nuclear engineers.

...“This is huge. For the first time, they’re using that dreaded word, ‘breach,’ Kaku said during an interview at KATU’s studios. “Plutonium is the most toxic chemical known to science. A speck of plutonium, a millionth of a gram, could cause cancer.”

His own family and friends in Japan have evacuated to the United States...

...Still, Kaku said he worries the recent reported breach could force workers to evacuate. If that happens firefighters would stop spraying water on the core reactor. He said the meltdown that would follow would likely reach the West Coast.

“Once they evacuate, then we pass the point of no return and meltdowns are inevitable at three reactor sites leading to a tragedy far beyond that of Chernobyl, creating permanent dead zones in Japan,” he said.

Until that point plant workers continue to expose themselves to a year’s worth of radiation every 30 minutes. Kaku calls those brave souls, samurais.