They still have a chance of pulling a rabbit out of their hats. And perhaps they are the most capable nation on the planet suited to deal with these problems. Will be a long drawn out battle while the reactors slowly cool off.
Even when the rods are spent under normal conditions..they have to be stored in cooling water....these rods take years to cool.
No, there are doing what they have been trained to do and there isn't going to be another Chernobyl.
It's time for everyone to shake their adrenalin addiction.
Some have also mentioned the fact that the spent fuel pools (not sure if they have them on site at any of these plants) also need to be kept cool and rely on circulating water (pumps) to keep them cool. If those pumps fail in several days they can get hot enough to turn the water into steam, and eventually they can get hot enough to melt down - only difference is they are not in a containment vessel, they will just release right out in the open.
Agree. Unless something causes them to have to evacuate the site, like #3 releasing more contamination than can be worked around or another tsunami. Without humans on site working the problem and power, this could turn into something really bad and involving all six reactors.