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Concern about all of these in terms of the active part of it. this part was shut down beforehand. the problem with the rods is you're talking an area that is outside of the hardened area. the concern i've heard from nuclear experts as i talked to them today is maybe the reason this fire keeps happening is because the water that's supposed to surround, even the inactive rods, because they still have radio activity, has dropped low enough that they're catching on fire. the coating on the outside is catching on fire. and that, at least at the moment, is ha much more serious problem than the worry...

Joining us this morning. >> thank you. american troops are being warned about low levels of radiation. the "uss george washington" at a naval base 200 miles south of the fukushima daiichi plant says it has detected radio activity. they stress no danger to the public people at the base are asked to limit outdoor activities. ouch our dr. sanjay gupta is live in japan. it shows you the deep concern spreading across this country. >> reporter: yeah. no question that, you know, if you take all of these things in aggregate, all of the information you've been hearing, that this is not a good thing o...

There's some suggestion now, jim, that these reactors in japan, they're in level six. somewhere between three mile island and chernobyl. is that what you're hearing as well? >> i have heard that. i heard a french engineer offer that had assessment. in some ways you can unction it. in chernobyl you had the outright release of large amounts of radio activity because there was no containment vessel. and you had a steam explosion and a fire that carried that directly into the environment. that has not happened yet. we are not at that point. we seem to a be a little worse. this is shocking for peop...

Line site. worse than that is the chance the fuel will catch fire. it's hot and it can cumbust. the way this reactor is designed, mark one reactors, they don't have a container around the spent fuel pole. it's a real concern. the fire could liberate as much radio activity or even more than the accidents that are occurring at unit one, two and three. >> let's come back to that point. six units in distress. three of them the issue is spent fuel rods which are not protected. not inside a secure containment shell. if you have one where you have a fire and two others with this issue, number one you...

Sets of nuclear material that we have to worry about. the nuclear material inside the reactors and the nuclear waste material which is in the cooling pool. this fire is in the cooling pool which you said already is not inside the containment structure which can deal with pressure and with shielding radiation. so the fear if this fire continues and continues to spew up a cloud of steam, that steam will contain particulate matter of items like eye -- iodine and -- these are materials which are highly radioactive. and so will be a continuing source of radio activity once they are deposited away f...