apan's fragile post-disaster political truce unravelled today as the head of the main opposition party called on unpopular Prime Minister Naoto Kan to quit over his handling of the country's natural disasters and a nuclear crisis.
At the stricken Fukushima Daiichi plant in the northeast of the country, engineers were struggling to find a new way to cool one of the six crippled reactors and Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said it was now "highly likely" there was a hole in the suppression unit of the reactor.
Mr Kan, whose public support stands at about 30 percent, had sought a grand coalition to help the country recover from its worst ever natural disaster and enact bills to pay for the country's biggest reconstruction project since the second World War.
Mr Kan's Democratic Party controls parliament's lower house but needs opposition help to pass bills because it lacks a majority in the upper chamber, which can block legislation.
The head of the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) today pressured Mr Kan to go. "The time has come for [the prime minister] to decide whether he stays or goes," Kyodo news agency quoted Sadakazu Tanigaki as telling a news conference.
Mr Tanigaki's comment reflects the view of many in his conservative party that Mr Kan must step down as a precondition for any coalition as well as a hope that criticism of Mr Kan within his own Democratic Party will gather steam after party powerbroker Ichiro Ozawa blasted the premier over his crisis management.
However, Mr Kan, who took office as Japan's fifth leader since 2006 last June, is not likely to step down readily, while opposition parties could come under fire if they try to take disaster budgets hostage in a political battle, analysts said.
Five weeks ago a massive earthquake and tsunami left nearly 28,000 dead or missing, devastated a broad swathe of northeast Japan and damaged the Fukushima nuclear plant. There has been no sign of a resolution of the atomic crisis.
The nuclear safety agency said a new plan for cooling one of six reactors at the plant, 240km northeast of Tokyo, may be needed due to the large volume of highly radioactive water on site, and tests would be done to determine if damaged spent fuel rods were emitting radiation.
"It may be difficult to completely remove the contaminated water and so allow work to proceed [in restoring power to the cooling pumps]. We may need to think of other options," said Hidehiko Nishiyama, a deputy director-general of Japan's Nuclear Industry and Safety Authority.
He said there was 20,000 tonnes of contaminated water in the basement and a tunnel under reactor No. 2.
Engineers are also concerned that some spent fuel rods were damaged by the March 11th earthquake and tsunami and could be emitting high levels of radiation.
Reuters