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Rat is suspected cause of Monday's Fukushima outage

Tokyo Electric Power Co's tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant seen earlier this month. Credit: Reuters

Tepco, the company behind the Fukushima nuclear power plant, suspects a rat might have caused Monday's outage.

The Japanese firm released a picture of a rodent carcass which it says probably triggered a short-circuit in a switchboard.

In March 2011 a massive tsunami caused a meltdown at the plant on the country's north east coast.

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Power outage reported at Fukushima nuclear plant

A power outage has left four fuel storage pools at Japan's tsunami-damaged Fukushima nuclear plant without fresh cooling water for more than 15 hours. The plant's operator it was trying to repair a broken switchboard that might have caused the problem.

Tokyo Electric Power Company said that pool temperatures were well within safe levels at the plant, and that pools would remain safe for at least four days without fresh cooling water.

Cancer risk higher in worst hit Fukushima areas

People living in the areas contaminated by radioactive material released by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident two years ago have a higher risk of developing certain cancers over their lifetime, the World Health Organisation said.

Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant was hit by an earthquake and tsunami in 2011. Credit: REUTERS/Digital Globe

The United Nations agency said: "This health risk assessment concludes that no discernible increase in health risks from the Fukushima event is expected outside Japan.

"With respect to Japan, this assessment estimates that the lifetime risk for some cancers may be somewhat elevated above base-line rates in certain age and sex groups that were in the areas most affected."

UN health body to report on risks from Fukushima

Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant Credit: REUTERS/DigitalGlobe/Handout

The UN health organisation is due to publish its findings on the health impact of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan today.

The in-depth report will give the World Health Organisation's assessment of risks from radiation exposure to people all over the world, as well as in the immediate vicinity.

Three reactors at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant experienced meltdowns after a 15-metre tsunami cause by a major earthquake disabled the plant's power supply.

No-one has died as a result of the accident, but more than 100,000 people were evacuated to avoid exposure to radiation.

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Japan to re-open first nuclear reactors after Fukushima

The damaged Fukushim Daichi nuclear plant Credit: REUTERS/DigitalGlobe/Handout

Japan has approved the restarting of two nuclear reactors reactors despite mass public opposition. They will be the first to come back on line after they were all shut down following the Fukushima crisis.

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has backed the restarts for some time, despite public concerns over safety after the big earthquake and tsunami crippled the Fukushima plant.

Anti-nuclear campaigners fear it could open the door to more restarts among Japan's 50 nuclear power reactors, which formerly provided around a third of Japan's electricity demand.

Japanese firm builds mobile phone that can detect radiation

The Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan Credit: REUTERS/KYODO/Files

A Japanese mobile phone operator has cashed in on residual fears from the Fukushima nuclear accident by designing a smartphone with a built-in radiation detector.

Softbank Corp claims the phones are more compact and user-friendly than conventional geiger counters, which have become a familiar sight in some parts of the country.

The company announced today that it would begin selling the phones this summer at an "affordable price".

Although there is an exclusion zone around the nuclear plant and all residents have been evacuated, there are still concerns about nuclear hotspots along Japan's eastern coast. Anti-nuclear activists have campaigned for radiation monitoring in schools.

Softbank president Masayoshi Son said: "The threat from the nuclear accident cannot be seen by the human eye and continues to be a concern for many people, especially for mothers with small children."

Japan close to nuclear power-free summer

police in protective suits
Police officers in protective suits after the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster. Credit: Reuters

Tokyo Electric Power Co, the operator of the Fukushima plant, will shut down its last running reactor at the Kashiwazaki Kariwa plant, leaving online just one of Japan's 54 reactors.

Safety worries have kept those reactors taken off-line after the Fukushima disaster from being restarted.

damaged power plant
Fukushima nuclear power plant after the disaster in 2011. Credit: Reuters

Anti-nuclear activists may welcome the prospect that the reactors that supplied nearly 30 percent of Japan's electricity before the March 2011 disaster will be shut down.

But experts say firms will have to bear a costly burden and that mandatory limits on power use may be necessary to avoid blackouts.

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