Japan's government says it will abandon plans to ramp up the nuclear contribution to the power grid to 50%, and instead will increase the share of renewable energy.

Warning was issued for area already torn apart by last month's tsunami, which is believed to have killed more than 25,000 people and sparked an ongoing nuclear crisis.

Tokyo Electric Power Co says planning to pour concrete into plant's pit to seal the crack; radiation in the pit measured 1,000 millisieverts per hour.

Nuclear safety officials say water must be removed and safely stored before work can continue to power up the plant's regular cooling system.

Apology comes after employees fled complex's Unit 2 reactor when a reading showed radiation levels had reached 10 million times higher than normal in the reactor's cooling system.

Buffett was supposed to visit Japan to inaugurate a new Iscar plant there, but found himself with time to spare after the catastrophe and went for a long tour of South Korea.

Two doctors and IDF officer expected to begin appraisal of requirements that will enable dispatch of a full-scale medical delegation; delegation will help handle casualties and refugees.

Robert Alvarez, a former senior U.S. Department of Energy official, warned of possible dangerous combustion and cancer causing elements, also stressing that the U.S. nuclear facilities are not entirely safe in their current state.

Coutnry's raising of the International Nuclear Event Scale rate would suggest a level of seriousness on par with the Three Mile Island accident in the United States in 1979.

Russia has stepped up its monitoring of radiation levels in its far eastern regions after an earthquake and tsunami set off a series of accidents at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in northern Japan.

Stores in several Chinese cities have sold out of salt after rumors that rumors that future shipments of sea salt will be contaminated by radiation from Japan.

Aircraft dump water into overheated fuel-storage pool of Fukushima reactor 3, where the cooling systems for its six reactors failed in the wake of Friday's earthquake and tsunami.

Director General of UN nuclear watchdog heads to Japan amid fears of meltdown at Fukushima plant.

Japan has evacuated the 20 kilometer radius of the Fukushima nuclear plant after reported radiation leaks; the International Atomic Energy Agency is preparing a mission to assist with radiation effects.

The blast at Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in northeast Japan on Tuesday followed two hydrogen explosions; The prime minister has warned residents to stay inside or risk getting radiation sickness.