According to the Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan , " by April 27 approximately 55 percent of the fuel in reactor unit 1 had melted , along with 35 percent of the fuel in unit 2 , and 30 percent of the fuel in unit 3 ; and overheated spent fuels in the storage pools of units 3 and 4 probably were also damaged " . As of April 2011 , water is still being poured into the damaged reactors to cool melting fuel rods . The accident has surpassed the 1979 Three Mile Island accident in seriousness , and is comparable to the 1986 Chernobyl disaster . '' The Economist '' reports that the Fukushima disaster is " a bit like three Three Mile Islands in a row , with added damage in the spent-fuel stores " , and that there will be ongoing impacts : Years of clean-up will drag into decades . A permanent exclusion zone could end up stretching beyond the plant ’s perimeter . Seriously exposed workers may be at increased risk of cancers for the rest of their lives ... John Price , a former member of the Safety Policy Unit at the UK 's National Nuclear Corporation , has said that it " might be 100 years before melting fuel rods can be safely removed from Japan 's Fukushima nuclear plant "
Three Mile Island accident
Three Mile Island accident
Environmental impact of nuclear power