Deep beneath Fukushima’s crippled nuclear power station a massive underground reservoir of contaminated water that began spilling from the plant’s reactors after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami has been creeping slowly toward the sea.

A leak of highly radioactive water at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant could be the beginning of a new disaster, Japan’s nuclear watchdog said.

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.

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 has launched a new nuclear oversight agency following criticism that collusion between regulators and plant operators contributed to meltdowns at the tsunami-stricken Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant.

Japanese officials pledged today to seek a society less reliant on nuclear energy as the country marked the 67th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.

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.

A protest took place at the gate of a Japanese nuclear power plant as it was restarted — 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.

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.

Japan’s government today approved bringing the country’s first nuclear reactors back online since last year’s earthquake and tsunami led to a shutdown of reactors nationwide.

Japan moved closer today to restarting nuclear reactors for the first time since last year's earthquake and tsunami led to a nationwide shutdown after a mayor gave his support to a plan to bring two of them back online.

Thousands of Japanese marched to celebrate the last of the country’s 50 nuclear reactors switching off today, shaking banners shaped as giant fish that have become a potent anti-nuclear symbol.

One of Japan’s crippled nuclear reactors still has fatally high radiation levels and hardly any water to cool it, according to an internal examination tthat renews doubts about the plant’s stability.

Traces of radiation from Japan's wrecked nuclear plant have been found in baby formula, the latest case of contaminated food from the disaster.

A strong earthquake registering magnitude 6.1 has shaken northern Japan, reports say.

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.

Former chief cabinet secretary Yukio Edano has been named as Japan’s new trade and economy minister.

Japan’s trade minister resigned today after just eight days in office and apologised repeatedly for calling the evacuated area around a stricken nuclear power plant “a town of death”.

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan is to resign after almost 15 months in office.

A MAJOR international mission to investigate Japan’s wrecked nuclear complex began yesterday as new information suggested that two more reactors suffered a meltdown in the aftermath of the tsunami.

A major international mission to investigate Japan’s wrecked nuclear complex began today as new information suggested that two more reactors suffered a meltdown in the aftermath of the tsunami.

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

A vulnerable Japanese nuclear power station is to be closed amid safety fears.

RESIDENTS rushed back into the 20-kilometre evacuation zone around Japan’s radiation-spewing nuclear power plant, grabbing whatever belongings they could before an order went into effect legally banning entry to the area.

The world must prepare for more nuclear accidents on the scale of Chernobyl and Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, the UN chief warned, saying that grim reality will demand sharp improvements in international co-operation.

Japan declared a 12-mile area evacuated around its radiation-spewing nuclear power plant a no-go zone today, urging residents to abide by the order for their own safety or possibly face fines or detention.

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.

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.

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.

Hundreds of police in white protective suits are hunting for bodies in the rubble outside Japan’s tsunami-flooded nuclear plant – searching for the first time within a six-mile (10km) radius around the radiation-leaking complex.

JAPAN raised the crisis level at its crippled nuclear plant to a severity on a par with the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, citing high overall radiation leaks that have contaminated the air, tap water, vegetables and seawater.

Japan's prime minister has made a public appeal for calm after raising the severity level of the nuclear plant crisis to the highest rating - on par with the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.

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.

After notching a rare victory by stopping highly radioactive water from flowing into the Pacific, workers at Japan’s flooded nuclear power complex turned to their next task: injecting nitrogen to prevent more hydrogen explosions.

Setbacks mounted in Japan’s nuclear crisis today, with nearby seawater showing the highest radiation levels yet and the president of the wrecked plant being taken to hospital with stress.

Emergency workers struggling to pump contaminated water from Japan’s stricken nuclear complex fled one of the troubled reactors today after reporting a huge spike in radioactivity, with levels 10 million times higher than normal in the reactor’s cooling system.

Radioactivity in contaminated water in one reactor unit at a damaged Japanese nuclear power plant tested 10 million times higher than normal, forcing the evacuation of workers and again delaying efforts to bring the complex under control, the plant’s operator said today.

US naval barges loaded with freshwater sped toward Japan’s overheated nuclear plant today to help workers scrambling to stem a worrying rise in radioactivity and remove dangerously contaminated water from the facility.

Shops across Tokyo began rationing goods including milk, toilet paper, rice and water today as a run on bottled water coupled with delivery disruptions left shelves bare, nearly two weeks after the earthquake and tsunami.

Black smoke has been seen emerging from Unit 3 of the crippled nuclear plant in north-eastern Japan, prompting a new evacuation of the complex, according to officials.

Smoke billowed from two of the damaged Japanese nuclear reactors today, temporarily halting vital work to reconnect power lines and restore cooling systems to the complex.

Japan’s nuclear safety agency says the operator of the country’s troubled nuclear complex repeatedly failed to make crucial inspections of equipment in the weeks before it was crippled by the earthquake and tsunami.