the ground and sea . But the facility still remained off-limits to reporters and , for a 20-kilometer radius around the plant , to the general public due to the continued high levels of radiation and ongoing efforts to prevent yet more blasts and leaks . That temporarily changed Saturday , when about three dozen journalists traveled by bus through abandoned towns en route to the nuclear facility . They passed , for instance , withered plants at an abandoned nursery , a shattered car dealership and a gas station that had been taken over by crows . Radiation readings rose steadily as they neared the plant , including 6.7 microsieverts in Okuma . There , those on board put on respirator masks , adding to an ensemble of a protective suit , two pairs of gloves , two sets of plastic booties over their shoes and a radiation detector . At the plant 's gate , the radiation reading was 20 microsieverts . The reading is still well below the threshold to mandate an immediate health risk -- 1,000 microsieverts equals 1 millisievert , and South Carolina-based medical physicist G. Donald Frey previously told CNN that radiation workers in
Tokyo -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Journalists got their first ground-level glance Saturday around Japan 's stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facility -- eying shells of reactor buildings , tons of contaminated water and workers scurrying still to mitigate damage from a crisis that began eight months ago . An epic 9.0-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami March 11 wreaked havoc around Japan , killing more than 15,000 people . While many of those died instantly , the East Asian nation was on edge for weeks as utility and government employees scrambled to prevent a worsening nuclear catastrophe at the Daiichi plant , located about 150 miles -LRB- 240 kilometers -RRB- north of Tokyo . Japan 's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency eventually categorized the accident as a level-7 event on the international scale for nuclear disasters -- the highest level -- putting it on par with the 1986 Chernobyl disaster . It took months , but the Tokyo Electric Power Company -LRB- the plant 's operator -RRB- eventually indicated that its workers were gaining control in the crisis . Throughout the summer and fall , there were no longer reports of explosions , nor stories about new leaks of radioactive material into