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The world is watching as japan's nuclear and humanitarian crisis continues to unfold. earlier today smoke could be seen billowing from the fukushima plant. countries neighboring japan are monitoring radiation levels of shipments from that country. but officials say they don't foresee any immediate effects of contamination. the united nations general assembly observed a moment of silence at its 65th session yesterday. members stood up to pay tribute to the people killed in the earthquake and tsunami. workers at the plant have returned after briefly being evacuated. japanese officials are re...

Uranium-filled pellet fuel rods, what do you do with your expired fuel? what do you do with that spent fuel rod? even after it's been taken out incredibly hot. i mean thermally hot. you put these really hot, radioactive fuel rods under water. you put them in pools that in the case of these japanese reactors that we're focusing on are pools that are about 40 feet by 45 feet. first of all, water just physically cools down the fuel rods. but the water also provides some shielding for their radioactivity. just like with an active reactor that has to get shut down for some reason, these spent fuel ...

Tourists ventured in, and some hardy residents moved back to farm. but officials here have determined that today the radiation level is low enough to bring people through on tours. to show them the sort of nuclear nowhere that japan is desperate to prevent. at least there, unlike chernobyl, huge protective barriers surround the reactors. >> we are all keeping our fingers crossed and hoping and praying that if things take an even greater turn to the worse, that these barriers will serve to prevent large releases from occurring. >> reporter: here, what was a paragon of what humans can do, split ...

Boil off the still water that is covering them. and if the rods boil off the water that is covering them and the water level drops and the rods get exposed to the air, what happens? same thing in an active reactor that's been shut down. it's not good. >> let's bring in bob windrum. there has been some discussion about the fuel rods in japan and the exposure they're getting to air. where do we stand? >> well, that is the big question right now. the iaea said this morning that they believe that the integrity of the four reactors is fine. and they are still continuing to monitor that. the issue, ...

Of radiation. that is not the case here. the japanese are not willing to do that. >> bob, thank you so much for joining us. appreciate the insight. rachel maddow will take a closer look at theç reactors tonight again, 9:00 eastern right here on msnbc. house speaker john boehner's responding to the growing concern over nuclear energy sparked by the crisis in japan. and here's what he said on capitol hill just this morning. >> let's understand what safeguards, if any, additional safeguards need to be put in place. but let's not just say, like we have for the last 30 years, we're not even g...