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While this will surprise no one, still...

http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2011/03/78343.html

Radio France to withdraw staff reporting on Japan quake
PARIS, March 15, Kyodo

Radio France decided Tuesday to pull out staff dispatched to cover the major earthquake in Japan, following a series of accidents at a Japanese nuclear power plant, a public relations official told Kyodo News.

The state-run radio station has sent a total of seven reporters and technical staffers to report on last week’s quake and tsunami, and accidents at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

The decision to withdraw the staff was made given the seriousness of the accidents at the nuclear power plant, the official said.

The pullout will leave one correspondent based in Japan for the French radio station. If the correspondent decides to leave Japan, support will be offered in arranging return travel, according to the official.

==Kyodo

From the long post and perhaps the single most key to remember:

Now as to meltdowns, etc. Here is the latest information from Dr. James Mahaffey, author of “Atomic Awakening.” He has worked as a senior research scientist at Georgia Tech Research Institute for 25 years. His past employers include the Defense Nuclear Agency, and the National Ground Intelligence Center. He’s a nuclear physicist. In other words, he knows what he speaks of. You will find his book on Amazon.com.

My question to him via email: “Are the reactor vessel and concrete containment building able to handle a meltdown given they were scrammed before the explosion? Or does that matter if the rods have been exposed to air and reheated?”

Answer: “Let’s get straight what “meltdown” means. What we have here is core meltdowns, not fuel meltdowns. The core structure, made of metal (zirconium) has collapsed because the temperature exceeded the melting point of the metal. But, the fuel is ceramic. There’s not enough heat from fission product decay to melt the fuel pellets, and not enough to melt through the 6-inch stainless steel reactor vessel. It’s very bad, but not quite that bad.”

But what’s “fission product decay” you ask? After the quake, the reactor shut down. The control rods were scrammed to stop the uranium fuel chain reaction. However, there is still a little bit of residual activity that causes heat. You still need cooling for that heat. Left uncooled, the heat build up will start melting the surrounding metal of the fuel rods. Now revisit Dr. Mahaffey’s answer above.

So, when you review the news, keep the “reactor vessel” in mind as that holds all the nasty stuff. That’s the key to look for. As long as that stays intact, it is a “very bad but not quite that bad.”