Japan Radiation Fears

Nearly six years after Noriko Matsumoto and her children fled Japan's Fukushima region, fearing for their health after the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl, they confront a new potential hardship - the slashing of vital housing subsidies.

Some of the smallest children in Koriyama, a short drive from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, barely know what it's like to play outside - fear of radiation has kept them indoors for much of their short lives.

A Japanese lawmaker handed Emperor Akihito a letter on Thursday expressing fear about the health impact of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, breaking a taboo by trying to involve the emperor in politics.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government is planning a state secrets act that critics say could curtail public access to information on a wide range of issues, including tensions with China and the Fukushima nuclear crisis.

The operator of Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant said on Thursday new spots of high radiation had been found near storage tanks holding highly contaminated water, raising fear of fresh leaks as the disaster goes from bad to worse.

South Korea's second-largest carrier Asiana Airlines said Wednesday it was cancelling charter flights to Fukushima in Japan from October due to radiation fears from the crippled nuclear plant there.

Genetic mutations have been found in three generations of butterflies from near Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, scientists said on Tuesday, raising fears radiation could affect other species.

The operator of Japan's tsunami-crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant said on Wednesday it feared nuclear fission had resumed within one of its reactors despite a shutdown. Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) said it had begun injecting water and boric acid into Reactor No. 2 at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, which began leaking radiation after the Mar...

Images of Japan's crippled nuclear complex and reports of food and water contaminated by radiation broadcast worldwide have battered its reputation as a safe destination, triggering an avalanche of cancellations by foreign tourists. Panwadee Pacharawanich, a mother of two in Bangkok, planned this year's family vacation at Tokyo Disneyland n...

Workers at Nissan, armed with radiation detectors, are visiting ports in Japan testing some of the company’s cars waiting to be shipped overseas. So far, no problems have been found, a spokesman said, but the company wants to be sure. “Should any radioactive material adhere to our cars, we’ll take the necessary precautions...

The nuclear crisis in Japan has triggered international alarm and partly overshadowed the human tragedy caused by Friday's 9.0-magnitude earthquake and the subsequent tsunami. Corporates around the world are equally worried over their employees staying in Japan. With no immediate relief in sight from the radiation leak from the quake-crippled pl...

Concerned over radiation affecting food items imported from Japan, the government today banned import of food items from the quake-hit country battling a nuclear crisis. The ban will be in effect for three months.Here's the press statement released by the government on the issue:Import of food articles coming from Japan stand suspended with immedia...

Highly radioactive water is leaking directly into the sea from a damaged pit near a crippled reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, safety officials said Saturday, the latest setback in the increasingly messy bid to regain control of the reactors. Although higher levels of radiation have been detected in the ocean waters near the pla...

Officials with the company that operates Japan's tsunami-stricken nuclear plant say radioactive contamination in groundwater underneath a reactor has been measured at 10,000 times the government health standard.A spokesman for plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. says the company doesn't believe any drinking water supply is affected.Contaminated...

Highly contaminated water is escaping a damaged reactor at the crippled nuclear power plant in Japan and could soon leak into the ocean, the country's nuclear regulator warned on Monday.The discovery poses a further setback to efforts to contain the nuclear crisis as workers find themselves in increasingly hazardous conditions. In another new findi...

Nearly six years after Noriko Matsumoto and her children fled Japan's Fukushima region, fearing for their health after the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl, they confront a new potential hardship - the slashing of vital housing subsidies.

Some of the smallest children in Koriyama, a short drive from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, barely know what it's like to play outside - fear of radiation has kept them indoors for much of their short lives.

A Japanese lawmaker handed Emperor Akihito a letter on Thursday expressing fear about the health impact of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, breaking a taboo by trying to involve the emperor in politics.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government is planning a state secrets act that critics say could curtail public access to information on a wide range of issues, including tensions with China and the Fukushima nuclear crisis.

The operator of Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant said on Thursday new spots of high radiation had been found near storage tanks holding highly contaminated water, raising fear of fresh leaks as the disaster goes from bad to worse.

South Korea's second-largest carrier Asiana Airlines said Wednesday it was cancelling charter flights to Fukushima in Japan from October due to radiation fears from the crippled nuclear plant there.

Genetic mutations have been found in three generations of butterflies from near Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, scientists said on Tuesday, raising fears radiation could affect other species.

The operator of Japan's tsunami-crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant said on Wednesday it feared nuclear fission had resumed within one of its reactors despite a shutdown. Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) said it had begun injecting water and boric acid into Reactor No. 2 at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, which began leaking radiation after the Mar...

Images of Japan's crippled nuclear complex and reports of food and water contaminated by radiation broadcast worldwide have battered its reputation as a safe destination, triggering an avalanche of cancellations by foreign tourists. Panwadee Pacharawanich, a mother of two in Bangkok, planned this year's family vacation at Tokyo Disneyland n...

Workers at Nissan, armed with radiation detectors, are visiting ports in Japan testing some of the company’s cars waiting to be shipped overseas. So far, no problems have been found, a spokesman said, but the company wants to be sure. “Should any radioactive material adhere to our cars, we’ll take the necessary precautions...

The nuclear crisis in Japan has triggered international alarm and partly overshadowed the human tragedy caused by Friday's 9.0-magnitude earthquake and the subsequent tsunami. Corporates around the world are equally worried over their employees staying in Japan. With no immediate relief in sight from the radiation leak from the quake-crippled pl...

Concerned over radiation affecting food items imported from Japan, the government today banned import of food items from the quake-hit country battling a nuclear crisis. The ban will be in effect for three months.Here's the press statement released by the government on the issue:Import of food articles coming from Japan stand suspended with immedia...

Highly radioactive water is leaking directly into the sea from a damaged pit near a crippled reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, safety officials said Saturday, the latest setback in the increasingly messy bid to regain control of the reactors. Although higher levels of radiation have been detected in the ocean waters near the pla...

Officials with the company that operates Japan's tsunami-stricken nuclear plant say radioactive contamination in groundwater underneath a reactor has been measured at 10,000 times the government health standard.A spokesman for plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. says the company doesn't believe any drinking water supply is affected.Contaminated...

Highly contaminated water is escaping a damaged reactor at the crippled nuclear power plant in Japan and could soon leak into the ocean, the country's nuclear regulator warned on Monday.The discovery poses a further setback to efforts to contain the nuclear crisis as workers find themselves in increasingly hazardous conditions. In another new findi...