Nuclear plant safety committee confirmed reactor core now exposed 1.7meter above water, speculating now fuel rod has started to melt.
“Six-mile exclusion zone placed around crippled nuclear reactor as radiation hits 1,000 times safe level”
That’s inside the containment building - no one is being exposed to that level. That’s why they call it the containment building - they are designed to contain the radiation and the pressure rise in case of such an incident. They can vent some of the radiation and pressure in a gradual and controlled way if necessary (if the pressure becomes too high).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Containment_building