It's hard to digest all the information from the various experts on the subject. I have listened to both nuclear experts who say there is a concern of unhealthy radiation releases from these reactors and experts who say the levels of radiation that will leak pose no health risk. Then you have the government of Japan evacuating tens of thousands of people who live near the facility. On top of that the electric company evacuates hundreds of its reactor employees leaving fifty or so to run things. So if the radiation leaks are supposed to be harmless why the need to evacuate the employees? The only answer I can think of is the initial radiation leaks are high but dissipate over time and by the time it travels a certain distance they become less harmful.
The other question I have is all the seawater they are using to try and cool down the rods. Where is all the seawater going that was used to cool the rods as it must have high levels of radiation? Does most of it just boil off, are they containing it somehow or is it running off onto the ground contaminating the area?

Another concern is the containment capsule. Could it have cracked from the hydrogen explosions and that is why they are experiencing radiation leaks and evacuated employees?

I have a pretty good idea of how these reactors work now from reading all the information of late, but there are lot of unanswered questions and variables to consider. We know from the Three Mile Island disaster that the rods which were fully exposed to the air and melted won't melt through the facility to the ground (The China Syndrome)and the containment capsule held the harmful radiation from being released, but the events that have developed in Japan are different with some extreme situations that could have changed the circumstances of how safe things should be.

I agree that the media is all over the place and we know a scenario of catastrophe sells, but it sure doesn't help in keeping the public informed or how the public should take action in case there is a real problem. I heard in Sacramento, CA they are running out of iodine. Go figure or should I say; It figures.

As usual we have to wait for the exact results to unveil.