Nuclear plant leak blamed on 'procedure failure'

Failure to follow procedure was to blame for the latest leak from a nuclear power station damaged in this week’s earthquake in north-western Japan, a top government official said today.

Tokyo Electric Power Company said radioactive material was leaking from an exhaust vent as late as Wednesday night, two days after the plant suffered a near-direct hit by Monday’s quake, which killed 10 people and injured more than 1,000.