Japanese pm speaks on wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday the government will take prompt, comprehensive steps to clean up the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant amid growing concerns about the plant operator's ability to handle it, according to Reuters. Embattled Tokyo Electric Power Co, or Tepco, said at the weekend that radiation near a tank holding highly contaminated water at the plant had spiked 18-fold, to a level that could kill an exposed person in four hours. No new leak had been detected at the tank, but another leak was found from a pipe connecting two other tanks. Abe reiterated that the government will step forward to take all necessary steps to handle the legacy of the world's worst nuclear disaster in a quarter century, adding it will draw up a fundamental plan to do so "quickly." Abe's cabinet is likely to discuss this week funding for the Fukushima clean-up after a series of revelations about leaks of radioactive water at the coastal plant, said Tadamori Oshima, who heads the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's taskforce on post-disaster reconstruction.