Those who remained behind continued a last-ditch effort to cool reactors with seawater to prevent a wider environmental and public health catastrophe.
High levels of radiation led the crew to abandon the plant control room Tuesday night, Kyodo News reported, citing plant owner Tokyo Electric Power Company.
"Their situation is not great," said David Brenner, director of the Center for Radiological Research at Columbia University. "It's pretty clear that they will be getting very high doses of radiation. There's certainly the potential for lethal doses of radiation. They know it, and I think you have to call these people heroes."
