An estimate by a Japanese government panel suggests that tsunami could overwhelm a new seawall at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, if a mega-quake occurs in a deep-sea trench off northeastern Japan.
The panel of experts on Tuesday released its projection of the scale of tsunami that could be triggered by a massive quake along the Japan Trench.
Many Fukushima residents have expressed concern over a possible scheme to release diluted radioactive wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant into the sea or air in the prefecture.
The government on Monday held the first meeting to hear local opinions on ways to handle the wastewater accumulating at the plant.
The organizers of the Tokyo Olympics have decided to keep the Olympic flame in the capital city after displaying it for a month in Fukushima Prefecture.
The flame was brought to Japan from Greece on March 20. Torch relay was scheduled to start at the J-Village soccer training center in Fukushima on March 26. But Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach agreed to postpone the Games just two days earlier.
NHK has learned that Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, has drafted a plan for disposing of radioactive wastewater stored at the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
Water used to cool molten nuclear fuel from the 2011 accident is treated to remove most radioactive material. But tritium and other substances remain in the water, a huge amount of which is stored in about 1,000 large tanks.
NHK has learned that arrangements are under way for International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach to watch the 2020 Olympics' first baseball game, which will take place in Fukushima Prefecture.
An underlying theme of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics is recovery from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that hit northeastern Japan and triggered a nuclear accident in Fukushima.
Japan's nuclear regulator says radiation levels around the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have decreased to about a quarter of 2011 levels.
The Nuclear Regulation Authority says radiation levels recorded last September fell by about 78 percent compared to levels recorded in October 2011. Data was compiled in almost identical circumstances on both occasions.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited disaster-hit towns in Fukushima on Saturday ahead of the ninth anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami that struck northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011.
Abe laid flowers and offered silent prayers to the victims of the disaster at a cemetery in Namie Town on the Pacifc coast that morning.
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency has expressed understanding of a plan to release diluted contaminated water containing tritium and other radioactive substances from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi on Wednesday visited the plant in northeastern Japan for the first time. He received a briefing from officials of Tokyo Electric Power Company, the plant operator, on progress in the decommissioning process.
An Olympic torch relay committee of Fukushima Prefecture has approved a proposal to add a town hosting the crippled nuclear power plant to the route for the flame relay.
In a previous meeting, the committee members concluded that they will add Futaba Town to the route if the government's evacuation order on the town is lifted. The town is one of three municipalities where the order has been in place since the 2011 nuclear accident.