Anderson Cooper Fears for His Safety in Japan

CNN anchor expresses concern after getting word of another explosion at a nuclear power plant

By Peter Gicas Mar 14, 2011 2:52 PMTags
Anderson CooperNancy Kaszerman/ZUMA Press

Maybe Anderson Cooper should just stick to the studio.

A little over a month after his handsome mug was used as a punching bag while covering the civil unrest in Egypt, the CNN anchor is worried he might be in harm's way once again this weekend as he reported live from Japan in the wake of the country's deadly earthquake.

While on the air talking with nuclear expert Jim Walsh on Sunday night, Cooper received information about a second explosion occurring at the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

"How far are we from Fukushima?" Cooper quickly asked his staff and crew. "Which way is the wind blowing?"

After telling Walsh he was about 100 kilomerters north of the reactor, Cooper, understandably, posed this question: "Should I get out of here?"

"I want to err on the side of caution for you here," replied Walsh. "My guess is that you're OK, but I don't want you to sue me if I'm wrong. I'm inclined to think you're OK...but there's a lot of uncertainty here and we're not going to know for a little while."

Cooper then proceeded to continue his reporting. After a long pause, that is.