#Fukushima I Nuke Plant: Reactor No.2 Fuel Rods Still Completely Exposed

despite efforts to pump sea water in the reactor. Nothing is stopping it from complete core meltdown, I'm afraid.

From Asahi Shinbun (in Japanese; 4:37AM Japan Time, 3/15/2011):

TEPCO held a press conference at 4:00AM today, and said they opened the valve on the Reactor Pressure Vessel at 1:10AM, and the pressure dropped.

TEPCO said they assumed sea water was entering again, as the pressure dropped, but that the water level remained low.

For the time line prior to this, see my previous post.

Here's the diagram of the Reactor No.2. The outer casing is the Containment Vessel. The inner casing is the Reactor Pressure Vessel that contains fuel rods.

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