Engineers have brought the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant to a "cold shutdown condition", nine months after the earthquake and tsunami, Japan has confirmed.

The Japanese government said earlier this year that it was aiming to reach a "cold shutdown condition" at the plant by the end of the year. This is where water that cools nuclear fuel rods remains below boiling point, meaning that the fuel cannot reheat.

Tepco has also defined it as bringing the release of radioactive materials under control and reducing public radiation exposure to a level that does not exceed 1mSv/year at the site boundary.

Engineers are also continuing to encounter new problems - last week Tepco officials confirmed that 45 cubic metres (1,590 cubic feet) of water had leaked into the sea from a crack in the foundation of a water treatment facility.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16212057