[Dr. Piper]

if you were the Japanese president. What option would you pick? And why?

[scas]

I'd say relax. The people have had a tough time. Give them a national day off and some free sake.

Life is only going to get tougher. Maybe as well enjoy the present eh.

[Livewire713]

Maybe they should just nuke the entire site.

[WhatDoWeDoNow]

Maybe they should just nuke the entire site.

"Nuke the site from orbit - that's the only way to be sure..."

Still excellent advice.

[WhatDoWeDoNow]

Don't the Japanese make the most fantastic robots?

Put the robots on it, they aren't affected by radiation. Let them take the firehoses right to the source(s).

At least that will take care of the old fuel storage problem. Robots can do all the work to get the reactors cooled again too, if that is at all possible. Why are they sending humans in to do a robots job?

[sparky]

.
From various reputable reports the problems seems to be with the storage ponds
one of them is reported to have 4 full load of fuel rods !!!! three of them spent fuel ,
instead of the two one would expect
one spend fuel left to "cool down" and one fresh batch ready to load would be normal
probably because it's just so convenient to leave them there ,
nicely away from anti nuke protesters and nosy journalists
big mistake !

so first , refilling the ponds with water and boron salts , re starting the cooling circuits
and later getting the rods out , to be stored near by , nicely separated from each others
nuclear reactions are like a party the more closely its stacked the more energy it generate
in a non linear fashion

Robots are a good options , both for clearing the rubble and handling the rods

The cores seems to be OK , the techs had lowered the inhibiting rods in time
but there could be some damage and buckling , if the integrity has not been compromised
left it as is ,
Chernobyl was a graphite core and blew (literally)its top
there was a lot of debris , they send the army in a long line to chuck the loose bit on top of each others and buried the lot under sand and boron using helicopters from all over the ( then ) USSR
married men with children were used only since they had done their breeding
pilots flew a couple of missions and then another took their turn ,
same for the soldiers doing manual handling .
maybe the Japanese could use Koreans ( that's a Japanese ethnic joke )

I'm not so sure what exactly is the situation , one reactor building superstructure was heavily damaged by an hydrogen explosion but it's only the superstructure not the concrete containment or steel pressure vessel
there is some auxiliaries which could be cactus too , like the high pressure steam , heat exchangers and turbines , but same things the best is to leave them untouched , maybe circulating some coolant if the pipes haven't ruptured .

in fifty years things should have quietened down a fair bit