UN inspectors criticised Japan today for under-estimating the threat of a devastating tsunami on its crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, but praised its overall response to the crisis as exemplary.

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.

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.

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.

Nearly a million homes suffered blackouts in Japan’s north east today after a strong aftershock that killed two people and piled more misery on a region buried under the rubble of last month’s devastating tsunami.

A strong aftershock ripped through north eastern Japan, killing two, injuring dozens and piling misery on a region still buried under the rubble of last month’s devastating tsunami.

Workers were pumping more than three million gallons of contaminated water from Japan’s tsunami-ravaged nuclear power complex into the Pacific Ocean today, freeing storage space for even more highly radioactive water that has hampered efforts to stabilise the plant’s reactors.

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.

Mounting problems, including incorrect radiation figures and a shortage of storage tanks, have stymied emergency workers as they tried to nudge Japan’s stricken nuclear complex back from the edge of disaster.

TOKYO’S water supply has been contaminated by the nuclear plant disaster and is unsafe for babies.

A pool for storing spent fuel at Japan's crippled nuclear plant is heating up, with temperatures around boiling point, an official said today.

Two of the six reactor units at Japan’s crippled, leaking nuclear plant are now safely under control after their fuel storage pools cooled down, officials said today.

The Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland has upgraded the severity of the situation at the stricken nuclear plant in Japan.

A RADIATION cloud drifted from an earthquake-stricken nuclear power plant toward Tokyo yesterday sparking panic in one of the world’s biggest and most densely populated cities.

DANGEROUS levels of radiation leaking from a crippled nuclear plant forced Japan to order 140,000 people to seal themselves indoors yesterday after an explosion and a fire escalated the crisis spawned by a deadly tsunami.

An air of panic swept parts of Japan today as scientists continued to battle radiation leaks from earthquake-damaged reactors made worse by an explosion and fire.

Dangerous levels of radiation leaking from a crippled nuclear plant forced Japan to order 140,000 people to seal themselves indoors today after an explosion and fire dramatically escalated the crisis spawned by the earthquake and tsunami four days ago.

Radiation is leaking from a crippled nuclear power plant in tsunami-ravaged Japan, forcing the government to tell people nearby to stay indoors to avoid exposure.

A state of emergency has been declared at a second Japanese nuclear power plant.

An explosion at a nuclear power plant on Japan's devastated coast destroyed a building today and made leaking radiation the central threat menacing a nation just beginning to grasp the scale of a catastrophic earthquake and tsunami.

An explosion shattered a building housing a nuclear reactor today amid fears of a meltdown, while across wide swaths of north-eastern Japan officials searched for thousands of people missing more than a day after a devastating earthquake and tsunami.