A man died on his second day working at a troubled Japanese nuclear power plant on Saturday, but plant officials say harmful levels of radiation were not detected in his body.
The worker, a 60-year-old contractor, died in hospital after collapsing at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, the site of a massive nuclear radiation accident following an earthquake-related tsunami in March.
A spokesman for Tokyo Electric Power Co. said the company does not know the cause of the man's death. He had been wearing a radiation protection suit, mask and gloves while moving equipment at the plant's waste disposal building.
The plant was rendered inoperable by a March 11 earthquake and tsunami that caused a string of fires, expositions and radiation leaks in what is now considered to be the world's second-worst nuclear accident.
The death is the site's first since two young workers were found dead shortly after the tsunami struck the plant's turbine building.
More than 15,000 people have been confirmed dead and another 9,506 are still listed as missing after the quake and tsunami struck Japan's northeast coast.
Radiation leaks at the Fukushima plant have also forced 80,000 people within a 20-kilometre radius to evacuate their homes based on safety concerns.
Another nuclear plant was ordered closed on Saturday due to safety concerns. Chube Electric said its Hamaoka plant in Shizuoka was shut down as the company builds a large seawall and other safety structures.
Radiation leaks at the Fukushima plant have forced 80,000 people living within a 12-mile (20-kilometre) radius of the nuclear facility to leave their homes.
With files from The Associated Press
