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.

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

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.