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.

Tokyo: Japan issued certificates for fish exports to the European Union after it said only products that don’t exceed radiation limits, or are from areas unaffected by a nuclear accident, would be allowed, the Fisheries Agency said.

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.

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

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.

THE World Health Organisation says radiation in food after an earthquake damaged a Japanese nuclear plant was more serious than previously thought, eclipsing signs of progress in a battle to avert a catastrophic meltdown in its reactors.

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.

Radiation levels in spinach and milk exceed safety limits following nuclear accidents at a tsunami-stricken nuclear plant, Japan’s top government spokesman said today.

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.

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

Japanese government officials say there was shaking and a trail of white smoke at the nuclear plant in the area devastated by a massive earthquake.

A STRONG magnitude 6.6 earthquake hit off the eastern coast of Japan yesterday, rattling buildings across a broad swath of the country, including the crowded capital.

A strong earthquake hit central Japan today, rattling buildings in the crowded Tokyo capital.