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The effects of the tsunami on the building containing Fukushima Daiichi's reactor three. Photograph: Kyodo/Reuters

The tsunami that wrecked the Fukushima Daiichi power plant has led to the toughest nuclear cleanup ever. Radioactive water is still poisoning the sea – and it could take 40 years to fix the mess. Is Japan up to the challenge?

theguardian.com - by Ian Sample - December 3, 2013

Carefully, gently, one-by-one. The removal of nuclear fuel rod assemblies from a badly damaged building at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant is finally under way. Months in the planning, the job is risky, complex, and crucial. Here begins the first major step in the toughest decommissioning project ever attempted.

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      (CLICK ON IMAGE BELOW - NOAA - Francisco Long Floater - Infrared Channel 4 Imagery Loop)

enenews.com - Energy News - October 19, 2013

Weather Channel, Oct. 18, 2013 at 9:45p ET: Super Typhoon Francisco Brushes Guam, Could Threaten Japan Next Week [...] A tropical cyclone is dubbed a “super typhoon” when maximum sustained winds reach at least 150 mph – the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale. [...] Conditions appear favorable for development [... allowing] the typhoon to strengthen in intensity, possibly to 160 mph (Category 5 status) over the next few hours. After that, Francisco will move into a region of cooler ocean temperatures, which cause the typhoon to weaken. Francisco may threaten southern Japan early next week, however the current forecast from the Joint Typhoon Warning Center indicates that the typhoon will be much weaker by that point. That said, intensity forecasts at five days out in time can be highly uncertain [...]

21 October 2013 | Tokyo -- The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)'s international expert mission to review remediation efforts in areas affected by the Fukushima Daiichi accident concluded today with the presentation of a Preliminary Summary Report to Japan's Senior Vice-Minister of the Environment, Shinji Inoue.

The Follow-up IAEA International Mission on Remediation of Large Contaminated Areas Off-site the Fukushima Daiichi NPS recognised the huge effort and enormous resources that Japan is devoting to its remediation strategies and activities, with the aim of improving living conditions for people affected by the nuclear accident and enabling evacuees to return home.

The Mission Team highlighted important progress since the first IAEA remediation mission in October 2011, noted that Japan had made good use of advice from that earlier Mission, and offered fresh advice in a number of areas where it is still possible to further improve current practices, taking into account both international standards and the experience of remediation programmes in other countries.

yomiuri.co.jp - March 28, 2012

The water level in the containment vessel of the No. 2 reactor at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant is only about 60 centimeters deep, far shallower than previously assumed levels of about four meters, according to Tokyo Electric Power Co.

The lower-than-expected water level was discovered for the first time when the power utility used an industrial endoscope to check the crippled reactor's interior on Monday, TEPCO said.

According to some experts, it is possible that nuclear fuel that melted through the reactor's pressure vessel and accumulated on the bottom of the containment vessel in the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami may not be completely covered in the water.

TEPCO said the water temperature in the vessel remained relatively low within a range of 48.5 C to 50 C. The discovery of the unexpectedly shallow water level will not affect TEPCO's judgment that the reactor is in a state of "cold shutdown."

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T120327006202.htm