this is very nice news that 2 reactors are cooled down...let's hope more 3 goes to same way...

@H.J. where would you propose they get the fresh water? It's probably safe to say that there is limited fresh water available after a tsunami of this magnitude.

The Guardian reports growing food shortages in the disaster areas. A government official in the prefecture of Iwate: "We get only 10% of what we have requested."

I'm stunned by these images. I don't think i've ever seen a disaster as horrific as this one.

@ Chris .... it's better to be safe than sorry - I think it is better to evacuate your wife to a safer place - no idea which way the wind will blow next.

@Reuters_RossChainey Good morning. Has TEPCO provided any close-up images of the nr 3 reactor at Dai-ichi after the explosion like they did for reactor nr 1?

Just a clarification - the cooling of the reactors using seawater is in response to the loss of normal cooling due to loss of electrical supplies to the pumps. The reactors tripped automatically at the onset of the earthquake and have therefore been sub-critical throughout the ensuing events. The continuing heat input is due to radioactive decay of the daughter products of fission, not fission itself. This decay heat slowly reduces following the radioactive half lives of the daughter products. The first few days are the highest risk and it appears that at Fukushima the loss of cooling has resulted in ongoing boiling and evaporation of water from the core with no means of making up water levels. The risk of a full meltdown due to thermal runaway is not the same as for a critical reactor, and the decay heat will gradually subside (see link decay-heat.tripod.com). The addition of sea water will provide cooling during the intervening period until the reactors have cooled adequately but as reports suggest that water levels have dropped so low as to expose the top of the fuel this fuel has almost certainly suffered heat damage. This damage, combined with the addition of chlorides in the sea water, almost certainly indicates that the reactors are write-offs. The risk of a major release of radioactivity associated with core meltdown is continuously reducing but there will still be environmental concerns associated with the use of probably millions of gallons of sea water, that will become radiologically contaminated.

"Due to the recent Tohoku earthquake, Onagawa city in Miyagi prefecture has had nearly all of its buildings swept away, and about 5000 people (nearly half the population)'s whereabouts cannot be confirmed, so the total number of people whose fate is unknown in the Tohoku region has exceeded 15,000." www3.nhk.or.jp

@Vince Cane The fuel itself has apparently not melted or been compromised, only the casing (i.e. rod) around it (not the pellets themselves). The rod will begin to melt at 2200 C but the fuel itself will not melt until 3000 C. This will release the already split radioactive particles (cesium and iodine) from inside the rods into the seawater, but as these particles do not dissolve, they can be strained back out again at a treatment facility and stored with other nuclear waste at a disposal site. This should highly mitigate at least that portion of the environmental exposure.

Some folk defend the state of the nuclear reactors, they survived the quake and a tsunami etc. But they are basically ruined and posing a health risk. If they were tidal or solar they may still be ruined but they would not pose any further risk to anyone.

@PC But if they were tidal or solar then they wouldn't be providing nearly enough energy to satisfy the demand. They are not viable at this point in time.

@borrrden - Also don't forget that the cost of clean and renewable energy sources are significantly higher in cost than nuclear. Economic considerations must be taken into account and not thrown out the window.

agree with @borrrden... there is not enough land to place those solar plants in Japan... did you ever happen to fly over Japan? you'll barely see a patch of non-vacant land...