50 Japan Workers Risk Lives Trying to Avert Meltdown

Japan has evacuated roughly 170,000 people from a 30-mile radius around the Fukishima Dai-ichi plant and even instituted a no-fly zone around it, but at least 50 people aren't going anywhere. That's how many technicians remain inside the plant, writes Dana Kennedy at AoL News, and it's no exaggeration to say they're risking their lives to try to avert catastrophe.

"They're like the firefighters who went into the World Trade Center," says an official at London's World Nuclear Association. Explosions and fires have injured seven plant workers so far, and radiation levels far exceed normal safety levels. "You can be sure they feel a huge sense of responsibility to fix this, but they are in a tough spot," says a retired nuclear physicist with GE. "They're professionals, but they're probably terrified too." Click for more. (More Japan earthquake stories.)