Japan Earthquake Update (15 March 2011, 18:00 UTC)

The IAEA can confirm the following information about the status of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant:

Unit 4 was shut down for a routine, planned maintenance outage on 30 November 2010. After the outage, all fuel from the reactor was transferred to the spent fuel pool.

Units 5 and 6 were shut down at the time of the earthquake. Unit 5 was shut down as of 3 January 2011. Unit 6 was shut down as of 14 August 2010. Both reactors are currently loaded with fuel.

As of 00:16 UTC on 15 March, plant operators were considering the removal of panels from Units 5 and 6 reactor buildings to prevent a possible build-up of hydrogen in the future. It was a build-up of hydrogen at Units 1, 2 and 3 that led to explosions at the Daiichi facilities in recent days.

The IAEA continues to monitor and seek information on the status of plant workers, reactor conditions, and spent nuclear fuel at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

ENDS