TEPCO Press Release May 15, 2011 The Reactor Core Status of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Unit 1

Press Release (May 15,2011) The Reactor Core Status of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Unit 1

Regarding the accident of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station caused by the Tohoku-Chihou-Taiheiyou-Oki Earthquake which occurred on March 11, 2011, we, Tokyo Electric Power Company, have been developing the immediate roadmap to restore the situation, and have taken all measures for this purpose at the moment. Along with these efforts, we have been organizing the past work progress record as well as the plant data after the earthquake. In this task, we have decided to conduct the analysis of the reactor core status based on the currently available records and on the hypothesis led from such records. As a result, we estimate that "regarding the Unit 1, nuclear fuel pellets have melted, falling to the bottom of the reactor pressure vessel at a relatively early stage after the tsunami reached the station." Meanwhile, regarding the reactor core status of Unit 1, because the fuel has been cooled stably by water injection, we believe that there would not be likely the further situation transition, e.g. to the situation where we need to release a large amount of radioactive materials. Because the current analyses are not always able to utilize every necessary information, which means that the analyses result are provisional, we will make effort to have more accurate status of the reactor core through further investigation. For the Unit 2 and 3, we will also conduct the similar analyses.