When was the last time workers were inside Reactor #3 Building?

[Junkdrawer]

And if no one is inside operating the reactor, how can anything be known about the state of the reactor? Especially with a jerry rigged cooling system, aren't operators essential?

Same goes for all the reactors in the complex.

[Yo_Mama]

1. They must be going in

They are pumping seawater in according to the updates.

[Junkdrawer]

2. Just heard a NHK report that almost all the control panels were damaged by the tsunami....

At best, they are flying blind. I suspect it's a jerry rigged autopilot if anything at all.

[Yo_Mama]

3. Firehose

For real.

That's what they're doing. None of the pumps would work, so they just run seawater in and out to keep heat down.

The only way they have readings on any gauges are
A) Purely mechanical, and
B) They're using batteries they have to switch in and out to provide some instrument readings.

[JVS]

4. By the tsunami or the explosions? I don't think the tsunami got that high.

[Paradoxical]

5. The control rooms were not damaged by the tsunami.

Not sure where you're getting that information from. But from everything I've read, the control rooms were undamaged.