Tokyo (CNN) -- 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 (240 kilometers) 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 (the plant's operator) 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 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 the U.S. typically aim to be exposed to less than 5 millisieverts per year. Yet it was the cumulative effect that has prompted the continued evacuations of thousands around the Fukushima Daiichi facility.





A half-dozen large cranes dominated the skyline inside the gates, while the grounds were pockmarked with vessels containing what the Tokyo Electric Power Company has said is 90,000 tons of water laced with radiation. They were visible in tanks that filled a field, as well as dozens of large, four-story tall silver tanks filled with tainted seawater.





U.S., French and Japanese flags hung near a water decontamination facility, which appeared as a cluster of white tents surrounded by black sand bags. The presence of toxins didn't appear to prevent pine trees from standing, and seemingly thriving, all around the facility.





Last spring was marked by regular reports of explosions, leaks and other problems at the plant. Those accounts, and radiation readings, in June led Japan's Nuclear Emergency Response Headquarters to confirm that three reactors -- Nos. 1, 2 and 3 -- had experienced full meltdowns. A meltdown is a catastrophic failure of the reactor core, with a potential for widespread radiation release.





The damage became starkly evident the closer one got to the heart of the nuclear facility.





From afar, a new structure surrounded the No. 1 reactor building, which had lost its roof due to a massive hydrogen explosion related to overheating the day after the quake.





No. 2 appeared to be intact, painted blue and white, despite a reported hydrogen detonation on March 15.





The No. 3 building, meanwhile, had been diminished to a skeletal concrete frame and large pile of rubble, which crews were cleaning up with cranes ahead of it being covered by its own structure.





And the No. 4 building -- whose reactor was inactive at the time of the tsunami -- also had significant damage, with one side entirely blown out, exposing the nuclear spent fuel pool.





Crumpled trucks and cars, twisted
When did the quake take place? What is the name of the plant? when was the earthquake? what plant was shut down?
March 11 Daiichi nuclear facility March 11 Daiichi nuclear facility
question: When did the quake take place?, answer: March 11 | question: What is the name of the plant?, answer: Daiichi nuclear facility | question: when was the earthquake?, answer: March 11 | question: what plant was shut down?, answer: Daiichi nuclear facility