Radioactive Releases at Fukushima Could Last Months - NYTimes.com

Possibly the first “real” report.

still being analyzed, but presumed to include Cesium-137 and Iodine-121 — suggesting widening environmental contamination

reactor operators now have little choice but to periodically release radioactive steam until the radioactive elements in the fuel of the stricken reactors stop generating intense heat, a process that can continue for a year or more even after the fission process has stopped. To control that heat, the plant’s operator must constantly try to flood the reactors with seawater, then release the resulting radioactive steam into the atmosphere, several experts familiar with the design of the Daiichi facility said. That suggests that the 200,000 people who have been evacuated may not be able to return to their homes for a considerable period and that shifts in the wind could blow radioactive materials toward Japanese cities rather than out to sea.

Re-establishing normal cooling will require electric power and may require workers to function in areas that are now contaminated,

And workers attempting the pumping operation are presumed to be exposed to radiation; several workers, according to Japanese reports, have been treated for radiation poisoning. It is not clear how severe their exposure was.

Radioactive Releases at Fukushima Could Last Months - NYTimes.com