Nuclear Power Plant, Japan Earthquake | featured news

Documents show that Japanese leaders foresaw the possibility of a meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, but kept their knowledge secret for months.

Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant experienced a full meltdown at three reactors in the wake of an earthquake and tsunami in March, the country's Nuclear Emergency Response Headquarters said Monday.

A worker at Japan's tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant died on Saturday, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co said, bringing the death toll at the complex to three since a massive earthquake and tsunami in March.

Japan's shelters are still packed, with no firm word on when evacuees may return home. Cleaning up the most serious nuclear accident since Chernobyl is likely to take decades and cost Japan an untold fortune.

Japan's cabinet approved on Friday almost $50 billion of spending for post-earthquake rebuilding, a down payment on the country's biggest public works effort in six decades.

Although the situation at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is far from stabilized, evidence suggests that a complete meltdown is unlikely, Obama administration experts say. Meanwhile, a 7.1 aftershock rattles Japan, killing two and injuring more than 130.

A suspected breach in the core of a reactor at the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant could mean more serious radioactive contamination, Japanese officials revealed Friday, as the prime minister called the country's ongoing fight to stabalize the plant "very grave and serious."...

Parents in Tokyo have been told that the city's tap water is not safe for babies to drink after radiation from Japan's earthquake-hit nuclear plant affected the capital's water supply.

Japan hoped power lines restored to its stricken nuclear plant may help solve the world's worst atomic crisis in 25 years, triggered by an earthquake and tsunami that also left more than 21,000 people dead or missing.

A top Japanese official acknowledged Friday that the government was overwhelmed by the scale of last week's twin disasters, slowing its response ...