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Japan investigates 'nuclear leak' Japan investigates 'nuclear leak'
(10 minutes later)
Officials in Japan are investigating a possible second radioactive leak at the earthquake-hit nuclear plant in Kashiwazaki, Kyodo news agency reports. The Japanese authorities are investigating the possibility of a second radioactive leak from a nuclear plant following Monday's earthquake.
A number of drums containing "low-level nuclear waste" tipped over by the quake were found to be open, Kyodo said. Officials say drums containing low-level nuclear waste fell over during the tremors, and some of the lids were found open.
Experts are currently investigating to see if this has affected the environment, Kyodo added. It had earlier emerged that water containing radioactive material leaked from the plant into the sea.
Monday's earthquake also caused water with "a small amount of radioactive material" to flow into the sea. Officials insisted it was a tiny amount that would not harm the environment.
But officials said the water posed no environmental risk. Thousands of people have crowded into evacuation centres after the earthquake in central Japan, which killed nine people and flattened hundreds of homes.
Large parts of the coastal town of Kashiwazaki remain without power and water.
Safety concerns
Kensuke Takeuchi, a spokesman at the Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear plant, confirmed that barrels of low-level nuclear waste had tipped over, but said he could not say whether there had been a leak.
"We're currently investigating the situation and plan to deal with it as smoothly as possible," the Associated Press news agency quoted him as saying.
The Kyodo news agency reported that about 100 drums had fallen over, and that this was discovered on Tuesday, a day after the quake.
There have long been concerns about the safety of Japan's nuclear power plants, which many fear are vulnerable in earthquakes.
Monday's 6.8-magnitude quake sparked a small fire at an electrical transformer in the Kashiwazaki plant, the world's largest in terms of power output capacity.
It was later announced that the tremors had also caused a leak of water containing radioactive material. Officials later said the water leak was harmless.