"There is no reason to be optimistic."   Japanese Government.

After my post below I have been hearing some of the same sentiments and observations on CNN.

I would add that within 10 months the amount of radiation that Chernobyl has dispersed globally will be exceeded by FUkushima.
In ten years it will be like 10 Chernobyl explosions. In 20 years 20 Chernobyl's m and that is on the low side.

The high side could be over a factor of 10 higher if all the pools catch fire and more reactors explode. Compared to that maybe you could be optimisitc. The difference islike being a paraplegic or having all your limbs amputated. A paraplegic technically can be more optimistic.