Originally Posted by
flyerred
Various news outlets are quoting Japanese government spokesman Yukio Edano:
"We do believe that there is a possibility that meltdown has occurred - it is inside the reactor, we can't see. However, we are acting, assuming that a meltdown has occurred and with reactor number 3 we are also assuming the possibility of a meltdown as we carry out measures."
I was shocked to find out Fukushima nuclear plant was scheduled pre-earthquake to be decommissioned in April (next month) because it was considered one of oldest nuclear plants with lower levels of earthquake-proofing than other more modern reactors.
Cross fingers that authorities can stave off the worst with tactic of flooding reactor with sea water. According to news sites, "meltdown does not necessarily mean a nuclear disaster in the worst sense of massive radioactive levels affecting the population. If the core breaches but the containment facility built around the core remains intact, the melted fuel can still be dealt with — typically entombed within specialized concrete — but the cost and difficulty of such containment increases exponentially."