Fukushima Daiichi Plant Radiation

Japan has acknowledged for the first time that a worker at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, destroyed by an earthquake and tsunami more than seven years ago, died from radiation exposure.

Extremely high levels of radiation have been discovered in a playground in Tokyo, officials said today, fanning fears for the health of children in the area.

Sensors at the Fukushima nuclear plant have detected a fresh leak of highly radioactive water to the sea, the plant's operator announced Sunday, highlighting difficulties in decommissioning the crippled plant.

Some of the smallest children in Koriyama, a short drive from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, barely know what it's like to play outside - fear of radiation has kept them indoors for much of their short lives.

Highly radioactive water from Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant is pouring out at a rate of 300 tonnes a day, officials said today, as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ordered the government to step in and help in the clean-up.

Around 2,000 people who have worked at Japan's wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant face a heightened risk of thyroid cancer, its operator said.

Japan's nuclear regulator expressed growing alarm on Wednesday at increased contamination beside the seafront of the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station and urged the plant's operators to take protective measures.

Tokyo Electric Power Co said on Tuesday it had detected radioactive caesium in groundwater flowing into its wrecked Fukushima Daiichi plant, reversing an earlier finding that any contamination was negligible.

Genetic mutations have been found in three generations of butterflies from near Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, scientists said on Tuesday, raising fears radiation could affect other species.

More than 20 schools in Koriyama city in Fukushima Prefecture, home to the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, have 'hot spots' with high radiation levels on their premises, a civil group said. The finding was based on municipal education board documents it obtained through an information disclosure request, it said.

The operator of Japan's tsunami-crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant said on Wednesday it feared nuclear fission had resumed within one of its reactors despite a shutdown. Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) said it had begun injecting water and boric acid into Reactor No. 2 at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, which began leaking radiation after the Mar...

Japan intends to host a global meeting on nuclear safety with UN atomic energy watchdog IAEA late next year, Prime Minister Naoto Kan told Group of Eight leaders today.         "Japan would like to open an international summit on nuclear safety in cooperation with the IAEA late next year in Japan," Kan said d...

Highly radioactive water is leaking directly into the sea from a damaged pit near a crippled reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, safety officials said Saturday, the latest setback in the increasingly messy bid to regain control of the reactors. Although higher levels of radiation have been detected in the ocean waters near the pla...

Japan's troubled effort to contain the nuclear contamination crisis at its stricken Fukushima Daiichi plant suffered a setback on Sunday when alarmingly high radiation levels were discovered in a flooded area inside the complex, raising new questions about how and when recovery workers could resume their tasks.Tokyo Electric Power Company, the oper...

Workers at Japan's ravaged nuclear power plant on Tuesday renewed a bid to bring its command centres back into service and to restore electricity to vital cooling systems, but an overheating spent fuel pool hampered efforts and raised the threat of further radiation leaks. The storage pool at Fukushima Daiichi Power Station's No. 2 Reactor, which h...

Japan has acknowledged for the first time that a worker at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, destroyed by an earthquake and tsunami more than seven years ago, died from radiation exposure.

Extremely high levels of radiation have been discovered in a playground in Tokyo, officials said today, fanning fears for the health of children in the area.

Sensors at the Fukushima nuclear plant have detected a fresh leak of highly radioactive water to the sea, the plant's operator announced Sunday, highlighting difficulties in decommissioning the crippled plant.

Some of the smallest children in Koriyama, a short drive from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, barely know what it's like to play outside - fear of radiation has kept them indoors for much of their short lives.

Highly radioactive water from Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant is pouring out at a rate of 300 tonnes a day, officials said today, as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ordered the government to step in and help in the clean-up.

Around 2,000 people who have worked at Japan's wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant face a heightened risk of thyroid cancer, its operator said.

Japan's nuclear regulator expressed growing alarm on Wednesday at increased contamination beside the seafront of the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station and urged the plant's operators to take protective measures.

Tokyo Electric Power Co said on Tuesday it had detected radioactive caesium in groundwater flowing into its wrecked Fukushima Daiichi plant, reversing an earlier finding that any contamination was negligible.

Genetic mutations have been found in three generations of butterflies from near Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, scientists said on Tuesday, raising fears radiation could affect other species.

More than 20 schools in Koriyama city in Fukushima Prefecture, home to the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, have 'hot spots' with high radiation levels on their premises, a civil group said. The finding was based on municipal education board documents it obtained through an information disclosure request, it said.

The operator of Japan's tsunami-crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant said on Wednesday it feared nuclear fission had resumed within one of its reactors despite a shutdown. Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) said it had begun injecting water and boric acid into Reactor No. 2 at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, which began leaking radiation after the Mar...

Japan intends to host a global meeting on nuclear safety with UN atomic energy watchdog IAEA late next year, Prime Minister Naoto Kan told Group of Eight leaders today.         "Japan would like to open an international summit on nuclear safety in cooperation with the IAEA late next year in Japan," Kan said d...

Highly radioactive water is leaking directly into the sea from a damaged pit near a crippled reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, safety officials said Saturday, the latest setback in the increasingly messy bid to regain control of the reactors. Although higher levels of radiation have been detected in the ocean waters near the pla...

Japan's troubled effort to contain the nuclear contamination crisis at its stricken Fukushima Daiichi plant suffered a setback on Sunday when alarmingly high radiation levels were discovered in a flooded area inside the complex, raising new questions about how and when recovery workers could resume their tasks.Tokyo Electric Power Company, the oper...

Workers at Japan's ravaged nuclear power plant on Tuesday renewed a bid to bring its command centres back into service and to restore electricity to vital cooling systems, but an overheating spent fuel pool hampered efforts and raised the threat of further radiation leaks. The storage pool at Fukushima Daiichi Power Station's No. 2 Reactor, which h...