Radioactive water leaks into Japan sea

Associated Press

RIKUZENTAKATA, Japan

Highly radioactive water was leaking into the sea Saturday from a crack discovered at a nuclear power plant destabilized by last month’s earthquake and tsunami, a new setback as frustrated survivors of the disasters complained that Japan’s government was paying too much attention to the nuclear crisis.

The contaminated water will dissipate quickly into the sea and is not expected to cause any health hazard. Nevertheless, the disturbing discovery points at the unexpected problems that continue to hamper technicians trying to control the crisis.

Word of the leak came as Prime Minister Naoto Kan toured the town of Rikuzentakata, his first trip to survey damage in one of the dozens of villages, towns and cities slammed by the March 11 tsunami that followed a magnitude-9.0 earthquake.

The double disaster is believed to have left nearly 25,000 dead — 11,800 confirmed. More than 165,000 are still living in shelters, and tens of thousands more still do not have electricity or running water.