<p class="MsoNormal"><em>This story is part of a </em><a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy" target="_blank"><em>special series</em></a><em> that explores energy issues. For more, visit <a href="http://www.greatenergychallenge.com/" target="_blank">The Great Energy Challenge</a></em>.</p> <p><strong>Their faces obscured by breathing masks, workers pore over data in the control room for the now-ruined Unit 1 and Unit 2 reactors at </strong><strong><a href="http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/countries/japan-guide/">Japan</a>'s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant on Wednesday.</strong></p><strong> </strong> <p>Although some power has now been restored to the facility, the workers known as the Fukushima 50 face a difficult job getting pumps and circuits to operate the crucial systems that provide cooling for the reactors and the spent fuel stored on site.</p> <p>The photos released by Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency are the first look inside the plant since the devastating March 11 <a href="http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/natural-disasters/earthquake-profile/">earthquake</a> and <a href="http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/natural-disasters/tsunami-profile/">tsunami</a> that flooded the facility and crippled the backup generators needed to cool the radioactive fuel.</p> <p>(Related: <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2011/03/110323-fukushima-japan-new-nuclear-plant-design/">"Would a New Nuclear Plant Fare Better than Fukushima?"</a>)</p> <p><em>—Marianne Lavelle</em></p>