Radioactivity detected in Fukushima worker's nose

Authorities said a worker at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power station had a high radiation level found in his nose, highlighting the risks involved in cleaning up the facility that was wrecked in 2011.

According to operator Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO), radioactive contaminants may have touched the worker’s face on Monday when he removed a full-face mask after ending his duties.

The employee was not feeling any severe health consequences, and a thorough body scan revealed no internal contamination, according to TEPCO, although a full analysis will be ready next month.

It was the second similar event in three months, following the October incident in which four workers were sprayed with radioactive water, with two of them being hospitalised as a precaution.

The nuclear power facility was wrecked by a huge earthquake and tsunami in 2011 that killed 18,000 people. It was one of the worst nuclear disasters in history.

The clean-up operation is expected to take decades, with the most dangerous part — removing radioactive fuel and rubble from three stricken reactors — yet to begin.

In August, Japan began releasing into the Pacific the equivalent of 540 Olympic swimming pools worth of treated wastewater that has been collected since the catastrophe.

Tokyo insists that the water is harmless, a view backed by the UN atomic watchdog, but China and Russia have banned Japanese seafood imports.