Since March 11, the six reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have been in various states of disrepair after being battered by a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami.
Here is the latest on the status of each reactor and what was being done to prevent further emissions of radioactive material:
An official with the Tokyo Electric Power Co., which runs the embattled nuclear plant, said it knew March 18 about pooled water in the No. 1 reactor's turbine building, but that a sample of the water wasn't taken for analysis until March 24. Saturday, Tokyo Electric said the radiation level in the turbine building's water was about 200 millisieverts per hour -- high, but still about half that as in reactor No. 3's turbine building.
Fresh water was injected into the unit's reactor core Saturday. This is in place of the saltwater that had been used for the same purpose, to cool nuclear fuel rods in the reactor and spent fuel pools. Besides its cooling purposes, experts hope the fresh water will help flush out salt to allow better operation of the cooling system.
Friday, Hidehiko Nishiyama of Japan's nuclear and industrial safety agency told reporters the situation appeared "rather stable" at the reactor, despite previously fluctuating pressure and temperature readings.
According to the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum, a nuclear trade group that has been keeping tabs on government and utility company accounts of the nuclear crisis efforts, the lighting is now working at buildings in and around the No. 1 reactor.
The same group has said the No. 1 unit's reactor core has been damaged, but its containment vessel was not. Saturday, the reactor's cooling systems were still not operational.
Still, the building was "severely damaged" by an earlier hydrogen explosion.
Like with No. 1, there had been evidence of high radiation levels in spots in and around the No. 2 reactor -- though not as high as that of the No. 3 unit. Specifically, Tokyo Electric said Saturday that water inside the No. 2 unit's turbine building had between 200-300 millisieverts of radiation.
Such radiation readings -- and the fact that authorities haven't been able to pinpoint the source -- prompted a suspension of some work Saturday in and around the reactor.
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