The operator of the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan has said it is struggling with its latest efforts to stop contaminated underground water leaks from running into the sea.

The operator of Japan’s crippled nuclear power plant said today that it has detected a fresh leak of radioactive water from one of the facility’s storage tanks.

Japan is marking the second anniversary of the devastating earthquake and tsunami which left nearly 19,000 people dead or missing and more than 300,000 people still displaced.

A strong earthquake struck today off the coast of north-eastern Japan in the same region that was hit by a massive earthquake and tsunami last year.

Japanese authorities are investigating subcontractors on suspicion that they forced workers at the tsunami-hit nuclear plant to under-report the amount of radiation they were exposed to so they could stay on the job longer.

Japan’s Fukushima nuclear crisis was a preventable disaster resulting from “collusion” among the government, regulators and the plant operator, an expert panel said, wrapping up an inquiry into the worst nuclear accident in 25 years.

Nuclear power returned to Japan's energy mix today as the first reactor to be restarted since last year's earthquake and tsunami came back online.

A protest has taken place at the gate of a Japanese nuclear power plant as it was restarted today – the first such facility to go back online since the country shut down all of its reactors for safety checks following the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

For 70-year-old Toshiko Murakami, memories of the terrifying earthquake and tsunami that destroyed much of her seaside town and swept away her sister brought fresh tears, exactly a year after the disaster.

People across Japan today remembered the massive earthquake and tsunami that struck the nation one year ago, killing just over 19,000 people and unleashing the world’s worst nuclear crisis in a quarter century.

Japan’s prime minister has acknowledged that the government failed in its response to last year’s earthquake and tsunami, being too slow in relaying key information and believing too much in “a myth of safety” about nuclear power.

JAPAN’S response to the nuclear crisis that followed the March 11 tsunami was confused and riddled with problems, including an erroneous assumption an emergency cooling system was working and a delay in disclosing dangerous radiation leaks, a report revealed yesterday.

HONDA’S human-shaped robot can now run faster, balance itself on uneven surfaces, hop on one foot and pour a drink.

Japan has approved a plan to provide 900 billion yen (€8.35bn) in public funds to the operator of a tsunami-hit nuclear power plant.

A POWERFUL typhoon slammed into Japan’s east coast yesterday, leaving six people dead or missing in south-central regions and halting trains in Tokyo before grazing a crippled nuclear plant in the tsunami-ravaged north-east.

THE operator of Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant moved closer to ending its radiation crisis yesterday with the start of a system to cool damaged reactors that could also help avoid dumping highly contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean.

The operator of Japan’s crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant is preparing to open a door of a reactor building to allow workers to install a cooling system and equipment to prevent an explosion.

JAPANESE nuclear regulators trusted that the reactors at Fukushima Dai-ichi were safe from the worst waves an earthquake could muster based on a single-page memo from the plant operator nearly a decade ago.

The president of the utility behind the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl today announced he was stepping down in disgrace after reporting the biggest losses in company history.

JAPAN has unveiled new plans to contain the crisis at a crippled nuclear plant after admitting it faced greater challenges than first disclosed.

Japan was to release a revised roadmap today for stabilising its stricken nuclear plant amid signs that three troubled reactors have suffered worse-than-expected damage from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

One of the reactors at Japan's crippled nuclear power plant has been damaged more severely than originally thought, officials say.

RADIATION from fish and lobsters near Sellafield suggest radioactive material dumped into the sea from Japan’s Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant isn’t a long-term health threat, scientists said.

Authorities may for the first time ban access to the evacuation zone around Japan’s crippled nuclear plant today amid concerns over radiation risks to residents who may be returning to check on their homes.

The operator of Japan's crippled nuclear plant began pumping highly radioactive water from the basement of one reactor's turbine building to a makeshift storage area today - a key step in stabilising the complex.

A PAIR of thin robots on treads sent to explore buildings inside Japan’s crippled nuclear reactor came back with disheartening news: radiation levels are far too high for repair crews to go inside.

Japan’s nuclear safety agency told plant operators to check and improve outside power links to avoid earthquake-related breakdowns similar to those causing the country’s current nuclear crisis.

The operator of Japan’s tsunami-flooded nuclear power complex was seeking ways today to pull damaged spent fuel rods out of a storage pool at one of its reactors, citing surging radiation and elevated temperatures as worrisome signs.

Japan’s nuclear safety agency raised the severity rating of the crisis at its nuclear plant to the highest level today, on a par with the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.

JAPAN has widened the evacuation zone around a stricken nuclear plant a month on from a huge natural disaster as another 7.1 magnitude quake and tsunami alert strained nerves anew.

Sirens wailed and people bowed their heads and wept along Japan’s devastated north-east coast today as they marked a month since the devastating tsunami which killed up to 25,000 people and unleashed a nuclear crisis.

Sombre ceremonies and moments of silence were planned today to mark one month since a massive earthquake and tsunami devastated Japan’s north east coast, killing as many as 25,000 people.

A MAJOR aftershock rocked north-east Japan yesterday and a tsunami warning was issued for the coast devastated by last month’s huge quake and tsunami that crippled a nuclear power plant.

Workers at Japan’s tsunami-damaged nuclear power plant today finally halted a leak that was sending a tide of radioactive water into the Pacific and exacerbating concerns over the safety of seafood, the operator said.

THE operator of Japan’s crippled nuclear power plant said it had found water with five million times the legal limit of radioactivity as it struggles for a fourth week to contain the world’s biggest nuclear disaster in quarter of a century.

Workers used a milky white dye today as they frantically tried to trace the path of highly radioactive water which is gushing from a tsunami-damaged Japanese nuclear plant and leaking into the ocean.

The utility company that runs the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant said today two workers were killed when the wave swept ashore.

Japan’s tsunami-stricken nuclear power plant is leaking highly radioactive water into the sea, nuclear safety officials said.

JAPANESE Prime Minister Naoto Kan said yesterday he was ready for a long fight to bring a quake- hit nuclear plant under control but was convinced Japan would overcome the world’s worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl in 1986.

Japan’s prime minister has promised to win the battle against an overheating nuclear plant even as atomic safety officials questioned the accuracy of radiation measurements at the complex.

Radiation exceeding government safety limits has seeped into groundwater under a tsunami-crippled Japanese nuclear plant, according to the operator, but has not affected drinking supplies.

New readings show radiation levels continue to rise in the ocean outside a leaking nuclear plant in Japan's north east, officials said today, as they debated whether to broaden the evacuation zone around the tsunami-damaged facility.

Seawater outside the crippled nuclear power plant in north-eastern Japan was found to contain 3,335 times the usual amount of radioactive iodine – the highest rate yet and a sign that more contaminated water was making its way into the ocean, officials said today.

JAPAN’S government vowed to overhaul nuclear safety standards once its radiation-leaking reactor complex is under control, admitting that its safeguards were insufficient to protect the plant against the March 11 tsunami.