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Monday will mark two years since the Japanese tsunami that triggered nuclear plant blackouts and a cascade of emergencies at Fukushima Daiichi. Tokyo Electric Power Co. has kept the three reactors that sustained core damage subcritical and at safe temperatures for more than a year. Nonetheless, the tasks of removing the plant's fuel and eventually decommissioning the site pose daily challenges that will continue for decades.

Here are some of the notable developments related to the crisis that have taken place over the last week:

Countryside Radiation Levels Decline Over Prior Year

Aerial radiation measurements of the region surrounding the plant decreased by about 40 percent compared to a similar survey a year earlier. On March 1, Japan's science ministry released results from a helicopter survey taken last fall over an 80 kilometer radius around the plant, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Airborne contamination spread in an oblong plume extending northwest from the plant after the accident. The areas within it showing the highest radiation levels – in excess of 19 microsieverts per hour, 1 meter above the ground – shrunk considerably over the last year. Researchers attributed just over half of the overall radiation decline to decaying cesium isotopes and speculated that the remainder was caused by environmental factors such as wind and rain.

Areva Sends Dry Casks to Plant

On Monday, Areva announced it delivered three spent fuel dry storage casks to Fukushima Daiichi. This year, TEPCO plans to begin removing spent fuel from pools at the damaged units, beginning with unit 4. That fuel will be moved to a common spent fuel pool on site. Older assemblies from the common pool will be moved to the dry casks to make room.

Google to Offer Street View of Evacuated Town

Google began using one of its Street View cars this week to photograph Namie, a town within 20 kilometers of the plant. According to the Google Japan blog, shooting will take place over a few weeks, with the resulting images available in a few months. About 21,000 people evacuated Namie and many have not seen their homes or businesses since the accidents. The video below, narrated in Japanese, shows footage of the abandoned town.