Interesting quote- Prof. of Politics Kato, Waseda University, on Clinton visit: "The purpose of the visit to Japan is clearly to see whether the Kan government is really capable of handling the crisis, and I think the conclusion will be that it is not."
The Kan government may have difficulty staying in power, but so far the Japanese press, although critical, has not mounted a strong attack on the government.
France 24, AFP press, international news, 17 April, 2011; "Clinton Visits Japan, U. S. relief Effort Warms Ties."
The article also reports 20,000 US forces are engaged in helping to clear debris, and distribute aid supplie. The US is providing coolants, two water barges and fire engines at Fukushima.

Japan Times, carrying the story that reactor shutdowns are nine months away, reports the U. S. proposed a "daring plan to use a remote-controlled helicopter and cranes to pluck out the spent fuel rods."
TEPCO is "locked in a vicious cycle in which water being pumped to cool the reactors is being turned into radioactive runoff that must either be stored or dumped into the sea, while it bleeds off radioactive steam into the atmosphere to cool off the cores."