Japan's nuclear emergency Monday prompted Germany and Switzerland to halt nuclear programmes as anxious Europe scrambled to review cross-border safety while safeguarding the powerful industry.
The unfolding nuclear disaster in Japan at reactors damaged by a massive earthquake and tsunami has led some lawmakers to call for putting the "brakes" on US nuclear development.
Radiation levels at the Onagawa nuclear plant in Japan have returned to normal after a state of emergency was called there earlier, the UN atomic watchdog IAEA said Sunday.
Evacuation, temporary shelter and iodine pills are the chief weapons for protecting civilians against nuclear fallout, experts say.
Japan's top government spokesman Yukio Edano said Sunday that radioactive meltdowns may have occurred in two reactors of the quake-hit Fukushima nuclear plant.
Japan's top government spokesman Sunday warned of the risk of a second explosion at the quake-hit Fukushima nuclear plant, but said that reactor three could withstand it as reactor one did a day earlier.
Explosion and meltdown fears at Japan's quake-hit Fukushima nuclear plant renewed debate about the safety of atomic energy Sunday and cast doubt over its future as a clean energy source.
Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan was facing media criticism on Sunday over his government's response to an explosion at a quake-hit nuclear reactor that had triggered fears of a meltdown.
Japan battled a nuclear emergency Sunday in which the government said twin meltdowns may have taken place and that radiation had escaped from reactors at a quake-damaged atomic power plant.
The operator of a quake-hit Japanese nuclear plant said Sunday that the cooling system of another reactor was not working and risked a possible explosion.
US nuclear experts warned Saturday that pumping sea water to cool a quake-hit Japanese nuclear reactor was an "act of desperation" that may foreshadow a Chernobyl-like disaster.
The Japanese government on Friday declared an atomic emergency and told thousands of residents living near a nuclear plant in Fukushima to evacuate, warning a small amount of radiation could be released.
Japan said on Saturday that an ageing nuclear plant may be in meltdown after a huge quake and monster tsunami ravaged a large area of the northeast, leaving more than 1,000 people feared dead.
Radiation leaked from a quake-hit Japanese nuclear plant Saturday, but the government moved to calm fears of meltdown and said a huge explosion had not ruptured the container surrounding the reactor.
Japan, with scant energy resources of its own, relies on an extensive nuclear power network which authorities have always insisted is built to withstand the most powerful earthquakes.
Japan's nuclear authorities warned Saturday that quake-hit atomic plant Fukushima No.
