You know all those pictures of Fukushima workers wrapped in protective gear, risking their lives in a fight to prevent the second worst nuclear disaster in history from progressing into the worst? You know what their special radiation suits are made of?

The technicians were wearing nonwoven protective suits of U.S. chemical firm DuPont Co.'s Tyvek brand, full-face masks and rubber gloves, but the two later hospitalized were not wearing boots, letting radioactive water in their shoes, according to the utility and the agency.

Yup, that's right, Tyvek. The same stuff that's used to make those ubiquitous FedEx/UPS/USPS shipping envelopes. Yeah sure, they're strong and all that, and frustratingly difficult to open, but not exactly much of a shield against neutron beams and gamma radiation.

I'm not pointing this out to be snide or anything. The purpose of the Tyvek suits is to keep the workers clean from contamination by radioactive particles; just peel them off and throw them out. Truth is, there isn't anything the workers could reasonably wear to protect them from the high levels of radiation they're being exposed to on a daily basis.

I just thought it worth mentioning that the Fukushima workers struggling to get this crisis under control, do so knowing that the only thing separating them from a handful of leaking nuclear reactors is a thin piece of Tyvek.