Radioactive water from Japan nuclear plant leaks in sea
Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan visited the disaster zone in Rikuzentakata Continue reading the main story
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Radioactive water is leaking into the sea from a 30-centimetre (12-inch) crack in a containment pit at Japan's quake-hit Fukushima nuclear plant, its operator Tepco has said.
The crack under reactor 2 may be the source of recent radiation in coastal waters, Tepco officials said.
They are preparing to pour concrete into the pit to try to stop the leak.
Japanese PM Naoto Kan has been visiting the area of north-eastern Japan worst affected by last month's tsunami.
Hidehiko Nishiyama, deputy director-general of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, told a separate news conference that Tepco was planning to pour concrete into the pit to seal the crack.
"With radiation levels rising in the seawater near the plant, we have been trying to confirm the reason why, and in that context, this could be one source.
We're testing samples of water from the pit and from the sea near the plant, and we can't really say for certain until we've studied the results," Hidehiko Nishiyama, deputy director-general of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, said.
Kan visit
It was Mr Kan's first ground visit to the disaster zone, although he had flown over tsunami-hit areas the day after the earthquake.
Continue reading the main story
Fukushima update (1 April)
Reactor 1: Damage to the core from cooling problems. Building holed by gas explosion. Radioactive water detected in reactor and basement, and groundwater
Reactor 2: Damage to the core from cooling problems. Building holed by gas blast; containment damage suspected. Highly radioactive water detected in reactor and adjoining tunnel
Reactor 3: Damage to the core from cooling problems. Building holed by gas blast; containment damage possible. Spent fuel pond partly refilled with water after running low. Radioactive water detected in reactor and basement
Reactor 4: Reactor shut down prior to quake. Fires and explosion in spent fuel pond; water level partly restored
Reactors 5 & 6: Reactors shut down. Temperature of spent fuel pools now lowered after rising high
Q&A: Health effects of radiation
Q&A: Fukushima radiation alert
Mr Kan assured people affected by the disaster in Rikuzentakata that the Japanese government would do all it could to help them.
"I spoke with local officials how to rebuild fishing industry, including how we can rebuild farms for fish and shellfish.
The Japanese government will do its best to support their efforts," he said.
Mr Kan visited an evacuee shelter and then told reporters: "A person who had a house along the coastline asked 'Where could I build a house in the future?
I said the government will do its best to support you until the end."
But a 60-year-old refugee, Ryoko Otsubo, said the visit was ill-timed.
"The timing of his visit is too late. I wish he had visited this place earlier. I wanted him to see the piles of debris where there were no roads through - now the roads are cleaned."
Mr Kan, who flew into Rikuzentakata on a military helicopter from Tokyo, was also due to stop in nearby Fukushima prefecture, in a show of support for emergency crews risking their lives to tackle problems there at the nuclear plant in the aftermath of the tsunami.
Mr Kan had flown over nuclear plant on 12 March, the day after the quake.
Bodies' search
A massive search has begun to find the remains of those missing since the devastating tsunami hit.
More than 11,500 people are confirmed dead, but nearly 16,500 remain unaccounted for.
Three weeks after the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami, the true number of those who died is still not known.
More than 100 Japanese and US military planes and 65 ships are scouring the country's north-eastern coast to locate any remaining bodies.
Employing some 24,000 military personnel, the three-day air and sea operation will focus on shores that were largely submerged or remain under water, as well as the mouths of major rivers.
Many coastal areas remain inaccessible to rescuers trying enter by road or foot, blocked by the mangled remains of houses, ships, cars and trains.
Because of radiation concerns, the search does not include the 20km (12-mile) evacuation zone around the Fukushima Daiichi plant, where there are believed to be 1,000 bodies.
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