The operator of Japan’s stricken Fukushima nuclear plant, which confirmed radiation readings are 18 times higher than previously measured, said yesterday that it found highly radioactive water dripping from a pipe connecting two coolant tanks, and patched it up with tape.

Japan’s nuclear watchdog is proposing raising the risk level of the leakage of highly radioactive water at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant from “an anomaly” to a “serious incident.”

The Japanese nuclear watchdog said it is taking the leakage of highly radioactive water at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant seriously.

Japan is moving a step closer to restarting nuclear reactors as utilities file for safety inspections at their idled plants.

A strong earthquake has shaken north eastern Japan, NHK TV said. A tsunami warning has been issued.

A worst-case scenario sketched out by the Japanese government foresaw the end of Tokyo in a chain of nuclear explosions as the Fukushima crisis erupted last year, an independent panel said.

The owner of Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant was planning a reassessment of tsunami risks just before last year’s disaster, a briefing paper indicates.

Temperature readings at one of the Fukushima nuclear reactors have risen above Japan’s stringent new safety standard but there was no immediate danger, its operator said.

Asian stocks markets fell today, with trading thinned by year-end holidays and mixed economic news out of the US and Japan.

Japan is set to declare that the tsunami-devastated Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant has finally achieved a “cold shutdown”, meaning it has stabilised and is no longer leaking substantial amounts of radiation.

A powerful typhoon is bearing down on Japan’s ravaged north-eastern coast today, approaching a nuclear power plant crippled in the tsunami disaster and prompting calls for the evacuation of more than a million people.

The utility company behind the unfolding Japanese nuclear disaster has reported a 571.7 billion yen (€5.17bn) quarterly loss, and its president is expecting the red ink to swell further over restoration and compensation costs.

A strong earthquake has rattled north eastern Japan, leaving seven people injured. No tsunami warning was issued.

A STRONG earthquake yesterday jolted the same area of northeastern Japan that was hit by a massive quake in March.

Workers today entered the reactor building of Unit 1 at Japan’s damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant for the first time since just after the earthquake and tsunami which devastated the site.

Readings from a robot which entered two crippled buildings at Japan’s tsunami-flooded nuclear plant for the first time in more than a month displayed a harsh environment still too radioactive for workers to enter.

PRIME Minister Naoto Kan promised yesterday he would “never abandon” survivors of Japan’s tsunami as he tried to focus attention on the future, despite a high-stakes battle at a nuclear plant.

Japanese police are racing to find thousands of missing bodies before they completely decompose along a stretch of tsunami-devastated coast that has been largely off-limits because of a radiation-leaking nuclear plant.

WORKERS at Japan’s crippled atomic power plant have plugged a hole spewing highly radioactive water into the ocean, boosting efforts to contain the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.

The Japanese government has set its first radiation safety standards for fish after a tsunami-ravaged nuclear plant reported radioactive contamination in nearby sea water measuring several million times the legal limit.

Japan is turning to other countries for help as it struggles to stabilise its tsunami-stricken nuclear plant and stop radiation leaks.

JAPAN ordered an immediate safety upgrade at its 55 nuclear power plants in its first acknowledgement that standards were inadequate when an earthquake and tsunami wrecked a facility nearly three weeks ago, sparking the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl in 1986.

WORKERS discovered new pools of radioactive water leaking from Japan’s crippled nuclear complex as emergency crews struggled to pump out hundreds of tonnes of contaminated water and bring the plant back under control.

Plans to vent radioactive gas at one of the reactors at Japan's tsunami-damaged nuclear complex have been scrapped after the plant's operators said the pressure inside has stabilised.

In the first sign that contamination from Japan’s stricken nuclear complex had seeped into the food chain, officials said today that radiation levels in spinach and milk from farms near the tsunami-crippled facility exceeded government safety limits.

BEHIND Japan’s escalating nuclear crisis sits a scandal-ridden energy industry in a comfy relationship with government regulators often willing to overlook safety lapses.

Military helicopters dumped loads of seawater onto Japan’s stricken nuclear complex today, turning to combat-style tactics while trying to cool overheated uranium fuel that may be on the verge of spewing out more radiation.

A NEARLY completed new power line could restore cooling systems in Japan’s tsunami-crippled nuclear power plant, its operator said, raising some hope of easing the crisis that has threatened a meltdown and already spawned dangerous radiation surges.

A 6.8-magnitude earthquake rocked Japan’s north-west coast today, killing at least seven people, injuring hundreds and damaging a nuclear reactor that reportedly leaked water containing radioactive material.

A 6.8-magnitude earthquake hit Japan's north-west coast today, killing at least five people.

JAPANESE stocks dropped yesterday, led by shares of utility companies including Tokyo Electric Power, as investors judged their recent gains excessive.

A nuclear reactor at a power plant in northern Japan was shut down for repairs today after a high level of irradiated water was found to have leaked from a pump.

A NON-RADIOACTIVE steam leak killed four people and injured seven yesterday in the worst accident at a Japanese nuclear power plant.

A steam leak killed four people and injured seven others today in the worst-ever accident at a Japanese nuclear power plant.