75 days into Fukushima nuclear catastrophe, Tepco admits that Units 1, 2, and 3 had melted down in first 3 days

The New York Times has reported that, nearly 11 weeks into the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power catastrophe, Tokyo Electric Power Company is now willing to admit that Unit 1 melted down on day one, Unit 3 melted down on day two, and Unit 2 melted down on day three following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. In addition, Tepco has admitted the possibility that Units 1, 2, and 3's reactor pressure vessels have been breached, although it and the Japanese government continue to hold out hope that the motherlode of highly radioactive, melted down nuclear fuel remains within the reactor pressure vessels. However, the "feed and bleed" cooling attempting to prevent the molten fuel from burning through the reactor pressure vessel -- and the last line of defense against environmental releases after that, the primary containment structure -- itself results in radioactive steam releases to the atmosphere, as well as ongoing radioactively contaminated water leaks into the ocean. A U.S. Department of Energy spokesman said at a meeting of an Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards meeting yesterday at Nuclear Regulatory Commission headquarters that such cooling -- and radioactive releases -- will likely continue at Unit 1 for over a year, and at Units 2 and 3 for the better part of two years.