Brief live update on State of Fukushima nuclear power plant

Japanese authorities today confirmed a number of developments at the nuclear reactors at Fukushima Daiichi.

Unit 1

Workers have restored lighting in the control room and have recovered some instrumentation. As of 25 March, fresh water is now being pumped into the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) instead of seawater.

Unit 2

Seawater injection into the reactor pressure vessel continues, and RPV pressures remain stable.

Unit 3

Workers are now pumping fresh water into the RPV, while seawater is pumped into the spent fuel pool. In addition, firefighters sprayed water into the reactor building yesterday from the outside.

Unit 4

With no fuel in the RPV, concerns remain focused on the condition of the spent fuel pool, and workers continued to use a concrete pump truck to pour water into the pool from above while pumping seawater into the pool through the fuel pool cooling line.

Units 5 and 6

Both reactors have achieved safe, cold shutdown, and their fuel pool temperatures have stabilised at acceptable levels.