Probe at Japan's crippled nuke plant finds fatal radiation levels

TOKYO – A new probe at Japan's crippled nuclear power plant has found fatal radiation levels and hardly any cooling water inside one of the reactors, renewing concerns about the plant's stability.

The operator of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant says an endoscopic examination Tuesday detected radiation levels up to 10 times the fatal dose inside the No. 2 reactor's contain chamber, suggesting challenges ahead in shutting down the facility.

The probe also found the containment vessel had cooling water up to only about 2 feet from the bottom, far below the yards estimated when the government declared the plant's stability in December.

Plant workers also reported fresh leaks of contaminated water from a water treatment unit, some flowing into the ocean.