The basement of reactor 3 is flooded with water, with radiation 10,000 times higher than “normal”.  Three workers from the Fukushima Daiichi were sent to the hospital with Beta Burns, as a result.  There is now evidence that the radioactive water came from the reactor core.

There are high levels of iodine-131 in the water. Iodine-131 is made only with nuclear fission, so it is a sign that the water came from the reactor core. Officials are now trying to determine if the core vessel is cracked, or if the water came from a damaged pipe or valve. Iodine-131 has a short half life span of 8 days, so the high levels of that isotope in the basement water indicates that it recently came from the reactor core.

Reactor 1 is now showing pools of water in the basement as well.  Reactor 2 continues to emit high levels of radiation. Reactor 2 did not suffer an explosion, so the building is intact, but, along with the high radiation leak, white smoke is coming from a window on one side of the building.

The concern that reactor cores might have been damaged by the 9.0 quake/tsunami, has caused the Japanese government to tell people outside the 20-30km zone to voluntarily evacuate, and to prepare for mandatory evacuations.  People inside the zone are still being told to stay indoors (which if you think about it is not practical, they’re going to run out of food & water).