tonight on "nightline," nuclear nightmare. tonight, there are people hospitalized with radiation burns and word that the core of a reactor in japan may be cracked after all, with deadly fuel flowing out. we'll have the latest dire details from inside fukushima. blasphemy on broadway. after tweaking countless taboos, the creators of "south park" are crashing the great white way with singing and dancing mormons. they explain why. for our series "seriously funny." and, spray-on lust. could irresistible sex appeal really be just a spritz away? that's the not so subtle promise of this product. and judging by sales, a lot of men are buying it.

we go inside the labs of axe body spray. >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," march 25th, 2011. >> good evening, i'm bill weir. the tiniest speck of inhaled plutonium can bring lung cancer, experts tell us, which is why tonight's news from japan is more tire than any since the mop administer quake and tsunami there. authorities suspect a large crack has formed in the core container of a reactor at fukushima. meaning that highly radioactive material, uranium and plutonium, is exposed and potentially spreading through air and water. here now is david wright with the latest. >> reporter: this was the news everyone here has been dreading for two weeks now, since the nuclear crisis began. a suspected breach of the reactor core. today, the prime minister

himself called the situation grave and serious. "we need to be extremely vigila vigilant," he said, adding darkly, "this is not a time for optimism." >> think of the little dutch boy putting his finger in this crack and this crack. suddenly, a huge crack begins to open up. >> reporter: the canaries in the react wear the engineers who bravely put their lives on the line to get the cooling system running again. several of them were dragging a power cable in reactor number three when they stepped in a puddle and radioactive water seeped into their boots. two of them were rushed to the hospital with serious burns to their feet. >> skin contamination is maybe the least of their problems. there are lots of organs inside the body which are far more sensitive than the skin. >> reporter: the doctors have since determined the water they stepped in was 10,000 times more radioactive than water recently tested just outside the plant. leading the power company to conclude there must be a crack or a hole in the stainless steel chamber of the reactor core.

they've now found water equally radioactive in reactor one and possibly reactors two and four, as well. >> unit three is so dangerous because it's the only reactor containing what is called mixed oxide fuel, ie, plutonium. plutonium is one of the most toxic chemicals known to science. a dust particle that you can't even see inhaled into your lungs could cause lung cancer. >> reporter: one huge concern now is, is it even safe for the workers to keep working? >> if it gets so radioactive that the workers have to evacuate, then it's abandon ship. then it's free fall. then we could have simultaneously three nuclear meltdowns in three reactors. that is way beyond chernobyl. >> reporter: authorities are now expanding the evacuation area from 12 miles to nearly 20. these new atomic refugees left today, 15 miles from the reactor. housing them all is proving to

be an enormous challenge. and the government's being forced to be creative. this luxury hotel was due to be torn down later this spring. instead, it's about to become a high rise refugee camp. tokyo's drinking water had a brief care this week, when radioactive iodine was tested at levels considered unsafe for babies. then, the governor of tokyo, who is up for re-election, quickly declared the tap water safe, even drank a glass himself. but many don't buy it. bottled water is still in huge demand. the public, skeptical they're not getting the full truth about the threat. it's been two weeks now since the earthquake and the tsunami swept entire coastal neighborhoods out to sea. this man and his wife have been searching every day for their children. third grader, nagami, who is 9, and first grader tetsumi. the tsunami swamped their school up to the second floor.

a few days ago, they found their son's body. but their daughter is still missing. "he looked just like he did," the father said. "i feel like my son answered the call and came home, but in a sad and disappointing way." but for the families of the people near the reactor, no such closure. nodio kimodo has been trying to find his wife, youngest daughter and 77-year-old father. but their house is inside the exclusion zone around the reactor. he can't get anywhere near it. he and his sister-in-law comb through the names at the emergency situation shelters. they live in one themselves. they visit the morgues. they post flyers anywhere that will take them, hoping someone may have seen them. but so far, no luck. and the one place they can't look is where they're most likely to be, near their house behind that invisible barrier. he says, "i don't care about the nuclear reactor. i just want my family back."

"we won't be satisfied until we can see with our own eyes if there's any trace of them," she says. but that won't be possible until the emergency crews finally contain the threat from the nuclear plant and it now appears that won't happen any time soon. i'm david wright for "nightline" in tokyo. >> man, it is amazing to see the official tone and public attitude shift over the last couple of weeks. the very latest on that story at abcnews.com, on "good morning america" tomorrow, and our thanks to david wright. when we come back, we will lighten things and talk about how the foul-mouthed guys behind "south park" turned a musical about mormons into the best-reviewed show on broadway. >> announcer: "nightline" an ibm computer system named watson won jeopardy. but the real winner? human kind. life is really about questions and answers.

this technology can help us get some of those answers. we're going to revolutionize many, many fields with this new capability: healthcare, government, finance, anywhere decision- making depends on deeper understanding of the huge wealth of information that's out there. i thought the game was the end... i'm realizing it's just the beginning. that's what i'm working on. i'm an ibmer. ♪ [ male announcer ] they can be sons who stepped from the shadows... or daughters who claimed the spotlight. born of a deep-rooted family tree, but not content to merely live under it. we all have a bloodline. but it takes a bold spirit to say, "it's my turn"... ♪ ..."my destiny"... then go out and prove it. they did, and so did we. the new 2011 jeep compass. a newly freed spirit.

genetically engineered with jeep 4x4 capability and iconic beauty but with a size, shape, and red-blooded attitude all its own. we followed in the tire tracks of greatness... and found a whole new direction. ♪ the 2011 jeep compass. the evolution of a legendary bloodline. ♪

>> announcer: "nightline" continues from new york city with bill weir. >> months ago if you had to bet on the success of a pending broadway production, would you have put your money on the one about spider-man directed by the "lion king" julie taymor? or maybe the one about the mormons by the potty-mouthed duo from "south park"? yes, believe it or not, the guys who redefined crude and are the darlings of the theater district tonight, for a musical people are calling sweet and heartwarming. how did this happen? well, here's jake tapper with tonight's "seriously funny." >> reporter: they are an unlikely toast of broadway. but there they were last night. the "south park" guys. matt stone and trey parker. >> broad day's a lot more fun than a movie somehow. >> reporter: with the premiere of "the book of mormon."

>> people get the wrong impression that we do stuff to piss people off. we actually just want to make people laugh. >> reporter: to just by the mostly rave reviews this morning, they've succeeded. ♪ making people laugh, often while making them extremely uncomfortable at the same time. >> well, gay people are evil. evil right down to their cold black hearts. >> reporter: a trademark of the pair for the past 14 years with their show about those four profane cartoon kids. your show, "south park," has made fun of every religion. >> oh, god, you're not going to lay that hanukkah crap on me, are you? >> reporter: sometimes it's been censored but mostly has not. why go after mormons? >> we grew up in colorado and we knew a lot of mormons growing up. and it's fascinated us, because it has its own kind of unique creation myth. just to an outsider, it's just goofy. but we use mormonism in "the book of mormon" to talk about religion in general.

to anybody's religion to an outsider, it's just as goofy. i don't think either of us think mormonism is any goofier than hinduism or christianity. >> reporter: is that almost the point, that it's about religion itself? not necessarily mormonism? >> i grew up loving musicals and all issues about religion, what we're trying to say come up, but really it's, let's put on a good show, let's make a really classic musical. ♪ i'm so lonely ♪ so lonely >> reporter: music, after all, has been as much a part of parker and stone's work. in "team america world police" and "south park" and elsewhere, as has the other point of the show. finding humor in the offensive. there was "cannibal the musical." ♪ they were nominated for an academy award for a song from the "south park" movie. ♪ you might remember their outfits from that night in 1999. who won the oscar that year? >> phil collins.

>> for? ♪ i'll be in your heart ♪ you'll be in my heart >> whatever, doesn't matter. >> phil collins? >> i was like, phil collins is going to come and try to do a broadway show right when we are, he's going to win the tony over us. >> reporter: he's your nemesis? >> well, yes. >> in that moment he became trey's medical sister. >> sitting in an audience, losing to phil collins, sitting in a dress, that's just a big kick in the [ muted ]. >> reporter: i first met the two five years ago. back then, muslims worldwide rioted over cartoons of muhammad in a dutch newspaper. stone and parker wanted to put mohammad in an episode to satirize the issue. >> welcome to muslim sensitivity training. >> reporter: and comedy central told them not to. >> so many people were saying, well, we're not going to do anything with muhammad because we're religiously tolerant. no, you're not. you're afraid of getting blown up.

>> reporter: it is a weird standard. because in that same episode don't you have jesus defecating on george bush? >> yes, that's sort of the end point. >> reporter: and "the book of mormon" is very much in that vein. getting away with what they can get away with without getting blown up. those with delicate sensibilities, not to mention the devout, should not doubt stay away from manhattan's eugene o'neal theater. do you believe in god? >> you asked us that five years ago. >> reporter: i thought it changed. >> check in in five years? >> reporter: i thought your answer might change. >> every five years. >> reporter: but you have a child now. 1-year-old boy. has that made you wonder about -- >> yeah, matt, what about that? that's what's changed, my atheist friends are getting mad at me right now. i'll say this. i am an atheist. i live my life like that. and now i'm a little bit more sympathetic when people go, wow, when you have a kid, wow. what made -- it is. like you can know all the

chemical processes and all the natural phenomenon that are supposed to produce a child. it does give you a sense of awe when you go through it. >> reporter: five years later, have you guys changed much? >> we're getting more and more tired. when we started "south park," we were doing it and immediately when that run was over, we were like, let's do a movie. we were trying to find creative things. getting a band, doing all this stuff. trying to find anything to fulfill this burning creative need in us. >> i think we're a little less ambitious. >> yeah. >> reporter: really? >> a little bit. now we want to go back to our day jobs and get a handle on our lives again. for a couple of years. >> reporter: and you called it an atheist love letter to religion. >> i mean, that was just something that i said one time. >> i think it's a good -- i think it's kind of a good way to put it. i think it's -- >> not really, because i'm not an atheist. >> oh! >> now you're going to get in trouble again. >> done it again. >> you think we get in trouble with religious people. atheists got really mad at us. after you interviewed us that time. that was the most trouble we've ever gotten in. we said we weren't atheists. what? >> i said there was a consciousness to the universe. >> reporter: when they want to kill you, they don't think you're going to a good place.

there's no virgins on the other end of that. >> no, no. >> you're just done. >> reporter: just nothingness. >> worm food. >> at least i'm going to a consciousness. >> reporter: pending worm food with a possible broadway smash on their hands. this is jake tapper for "nightline" in new york city. >> our thanks to jake and the worm food. coming up next, the girls on the beach are all within reach. that message has been selling a lot of a product called axe body spray. but we sniff out this tale of sex and sales. host: could switching to geico really save you 15% or more on car insurance? host: do dogs chase cats? ♪ 70's era music sfx: tires squealing ♪ 70's era music sfx: tires squealing

vo: geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. by giving me huge discounts on rooms hotels can't always fill. with unpublished rates. which means i get an even more rockin' hotel, for less. where you book matters. expedia.

say, fellas. would you like to be physically molested by any number of strange yet attractive women the next time you board an elevator?

of course you would. that's a male desire that marketers have been taking advantage of since long before elevators. but few have been more successful than the folks at axe body spray. the product is a modern phenomenon in the booming business of male grooming. and normally unscented television sex symbol john berman went to find out why. >> reporter: you might be wondering why these people are smelling me. it's a fair question, and we'll get to it. but a more immediate question is, what do i smell like? and the answer? money. when you smell this, what are you smelling? what do you smell? >> a very lickable fragrance. >> reporter: lickable? >> yeah. >>. >> reporter: wow. no wonder axe is selling well. that's right. the genius of axe is the not subtle at all promise that women will lick you, rub you, and love you. >> axe at the end of the day is

a brand that's about giving guys confidence. >> reporter: mike dwyer, a stylish looking gentleman in his own right, is the marketing director for axe. he's called axe a perfect wing man for men in the mating game. what's the mating game? >> it's about helping you really feel comfortable because you have that right scent and scent that the girls like. >> reporter: you didn't know you needed body spray to find a mate? well, ten years ago, no one did really. remember, we're not talking about underarm deodorant but spray what a guy uses -- >> across the chest. >> pit, pit, chest. >> reporter: unilever practically invented the category in 2002. they have helped fuel a boom in men's grooming products, nearly $5 billion a year. double what it was 15 years ago. and they did it with relentless advertising. with a ribard message.

sex, sex and more sex. you're not going for subtlety points. >> what might be uncomfortable for one person might be absolutely funny for someone else. for us, it's a lifestyle brand. we want it to be at the places where our guys want to be. >> reporter: that lifestyle includes an advertising world where women literally chase after men. >> it can make any ball sparkly and new. >> reporter: and web videos where women make jokes about balls. almost a single entendre. >> so, no one wants to play with dirty equipment. that's why you have to keep your balls clean. >> reporter: get it? no question, it's racy. especially considering there's no shortage of young teenage boys wearing this stuff. >> we're really clearly a brand that's around 18 to 24-year-old guys. that's the lifestyle we want to personify and the space that we're really looking to tap into. >> reporter: kids are younger wearing axe out there, aren't there? >> i'm sure younger guys would like it as well. >> reporter: younger guys no doubt like the constant push toward cool.

axe puts up all kinds of instant concerts, instant parties and instant bashes to promote its products, like this one in dallas. way too cool and way too loud for many grownups. but to get to the dollars, you have to have sense. and their best selling scent ever? dark temptation, designed at this new york fragrance house, iff. and designed to smell like -- >> good chocolate ice cream. >> it's creamy. yeah, it's good. very good. >> reporter: if i spray some of this, this will remind me of what i just put in my mouth? >> see a connection, for sure. >> reporter: there is a science to smelling like a pint of chocolate ice cream. and that's where these people come in. >> it's like making a dress, you know. every detail, everything has to play a role in it. >> reporter: so, what kind of dress is this, then? is dark temptation? >> a dress for a sexy man. >> reporter: a dress for a sexy man? they won't tell us exactly what goes into it.

it's a collection of flowers, herbs, spices and a little bit of science. to help figure out if they got it right, they call in an expert smeller. how many different arms do you smell? >> at least ten. >> reporter: you'll remember, she's the one who said i smelled lickable. and you'll notice something else, too. she's a woman. axe says they want help in the mating game, what does that smell like to a woman? >> i think it's anything that you want to keep on smelling. that you want to keep going back and saying that smells so good, i can't get enough of it. so, for us, that would be something addictive and lickable. that's what i mean when i say that. >> reporter: is lickable a phrase you use a lot in this business? >> for axe it is. >> reporter: maybe the key for the mating game, but definitely the money game. i'm john berman for "nightline" in dallas. >> and our thanks to john "dark temptation" berman for that. and thank you for watching abc news. we do hope you'll check in tomorrow morning for "good morning america." they'll have everything you need to knoou