Fukushima nuclear power plant in about 10 years, a third quicker than the American Three Mile Island plant.^[15] As a comparison, at Three Mile Island the vessel of the partially melted core was first opened 11 years after the accident, with cleanup activities taking several more years.TEPCO announced it restored the automated cooling systems restored in the damaged reactors in about three months, and had the reactors put into cold shutdown status in six months.^[16]

What are so-called "red zones"?
Red zones are really closed areas

How have plant and animal life been affected by this event

Similarly, birds, butterflies and cicadas experienced population declines in Fukushima as a result of radiation exposure. However, other groups such as dragonflies and bees did not seem to be affected. Furthermore, they also observed morphological effects on some species such as abnormal feathers on barn swallow

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZK8UBHMo04U&edufilter=Db24N54Eu_vpe4P65Iz5FA&safe=active