fukushima power plant in meltdown
the journal of Michael Werneburg
twenty-seven years and one million words
It looks like reactor 2 at fukushima must now be in meltdown. Radiation levels outside the plant are fluctuating and sky-high.
What you need to read is all right here. This is not finger pointing, it's just a cold hard look at the observable facts.
Secondly, we've just learned from a discussion on NHK that while NHK cameras were able to point out smoke billowing from reactor four, TEPCO staff replied that they no longer had the ability to access the outside of that reactor. The responses from viewers, as they came in on the NHK website was simple: so who's going to fix this?
The answer is: no one. The plant is melting down, it's no longer possible for anyone to do anything about it, and it's time to get far away and hope for helpful winds. Elevated radiation levels have been found in Tokyo, against the prevailing wind.
Another excellent and lucid article puts it this way:
An aerial image of the Fukushima plant shows the loss of high-capacity cranes needed to move equipment to service the reactor. The photo also appears to show that the spent fuel pool is steaming hot, which may indicate the water is boiling off, Alvarez said.
How did it get like this? A string of bad luck, bad assumptions, out-dated design, and of course human error:
If you'd like a more detailed view on the reactor designs at issue, see this technical description of what's involved. There is no tertiary containment at one of these plants, it's a very simple design that's long since been outdated (needless to say, there are dozens of these plants around the world).