The head of the UN nuclear watchdog said that "The situation at Japan's quake-damaged nuclear plant remains very serious" And IAEA director-general Yukiya Amano said he had "no doubt that this crisis will be effectively overcome".
Workers at the Fukushima Daiichi plant have been battling to cool reactors and spent fuel ponds to avoid a large-scale release of radiation.
The Fukushima plant was crippled by fire and explosions after the 11 March quake and tsunami.
Electricity has been restored to all reactors and engineers hope to test water pumps soon.
Earlier, some workers were temporarily evacuated from the complex after grey smoke was seen rising from the No 3 reactor.
Radiation levels did not appear to have risen significantly though after the smoke was spotted, the IAEA and Japan's nuclear safety agency said.
White smoke was later seen rising from the No 2 reactor.
"The crisis has still not been resolved and the situation at the [plant] remains very serious," Mr Amano, the head of the IAEA, told an emergency board meeting.
But he said he was starting to see positive developments; the cooling system had been restored to reactors 5 and 6, and they "are no longer an immediate concern".
The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission - whose staff are in Tokyo conferring with the Japanese government and industry officials - said the Japanese nuclear crisis appeared to be stabilising.
The NRC said that reactors 1, 2 and 3 had some core damage but their containment was not currently breached.
The World Health Organization said it had no evidence of contaminated food reaching other countries. However, China, Taiwan and South Korea have announced plans to toughen checks of Japanese imports.
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