13 March 2011, Tokyo Electric Power Company has announced that fuel rods in reactor 1 have melted.  Government officials think this might be the cause of holes where highly contaminated water is pouring from.

TEPCo officials say that most of the fuel rods have melted and are now melting through the bottom of the reactor.  Officials think the melted rods are cooling down at the bottom of the reactor because there is still water there.

TEPCo is now trying to find out how much water is actually in the reactor, and come up with a new plan to address the meltdown.