Nuclear fuel rods inside the No. 1 reactor of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi power plant likely melted after being fully exposed and are being cooled in water at the bottom of the pressure vessel, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Thursday. Based on the latest data after workers adjusted gauges for measuring the water level at the reactor, water could not be confirmed inside the pressure vessel at a point 5 meters below where the top of the 4-meter-long fuel rods normally are, according to the utility also known as TEPCO. The water level is far lower than earlier thought. Measurements taken before the gauge adjustment had indicated that about 1.5 to 1.7 meters of the fuel rods were exposed and not submerged in water.

I received the following email a few days ago from a Russian nuclear physicist friend who is an expert on the kinds of gases being released at Fukushima. Here is what he wrote: "About Japan: the problem is that the reactor uses "dirty" fuel. It is a combination of plutonium and uranium (MOX). I suspect that the old fuel rods have bean spread out due to the explosion and the surrounding area is contaminated with plutonium which means you can never return to this place again. It is like a new Tchernobyl. Personally, I am not surprised that the authority has not informed people about this". I have been following the Fukushima story very closely since the earthquake and devastating tsunami. I have asked scientists I know, nuclear physicists and others about where they find real information. I have also watched as the news has virtually disappeared. There is something extremely disturbing going on and having lived through the media blackout in France back in April and early May 1986, and speaking to doctors who are deeply concerned by the dramatic increase in cancers appearing at very young ages, it is obvious...

Although renowned as the "land of a thousand lakes", central China's Hubei province has been plagued by a lingering spring drought, which has impacted grain production and disrupted the area's supply of drinking water.

Officials have indefinitely closed a school near a massive northern Alberta oil spill after numerous health complaints – and even talk of evacuation – have arisen in the small Cree community of Little Buffalo. Concern is also mounting after the community was told the spill is being held back from a sizeable wetlands area by a beaver dam.

As a runaway carousel. Change of climate in the Arctic is now happening with such speed that science looks for in amazement. scary stuff use google translater from danish to english To read this.....

The latest on Fukushima fallout from the most reputable organization on the topic...