The nuclear plant workers and technicians in Japan will more than likely die from the extreme radiation that they're exposed to while repairing damaged Fukushima reactors

The workers charged with maintaining and repairing the destroyed nuclear reactors in Japan will be exposed to lethal amounts of radiation that will more than likely kill them.

Dead men walking.

They’re known as the “Fukushima 50,” and they’re Japan’s only hope of avoiding a Chernobyl-like catastrophe.

The men, unidentified technicians and emergency workers, are desperately battling to save potentially millions of their countrymen — knowing that even if they succeed, they’ll likely die from lethal doses of radiation.

Chernobyl workers who stayed at their stations when the Ukrainian reactor exploded in 1986 died within three months of exposure.

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan virtually ordered the crews on the suicide mission.

“You are the only ones who can resolve a crisis,” he said. “Retreat is unthinkable.”

The modern-day Samurai — who have attained mythic status among their countrymen — are “not afraid to die,” a source close to them told CBS.

The selfless workers total about 180. But no human can stay inside the devastated Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant for more than 15 minutes at a time, so they cycle in and out in teams of 50.

They’re using manual pumps to force seawater onto the overheated reactors, because the plant’s electrically powered cooling system collapsed after last Friday’s earthquake and tsunami. Dressed in hazmat suits and working with flashlights, they’re also desperately unclogging vents and repairing pipes.

Unless the nuclear fuel is immersed in water, it overheats, leading to a calamitous meltdown that releases lethal radiation into the air.

The workers, including cops, firefighters and soldiers, face their greatest test at Reactor No. 4, where the cooling pools are believed to have run completely dry.

We can only liken these men and women to the firefighters and police that lost their lives in 9/11 trying to save people from the flames of World Trade Center. A lot of people probably wouldn’t have the marbles to fight a nuclear plant, now THAT’S gangsta!

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