The 20cm (8in) crack in a containment pit under reactor two may be the source of recent radiation in coastal waters, Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) officials said.
Readings released on Saturday showed radiation in seawater had spread to 25 miles (40km) south of the plant. The announcement of the radioactive leak came as Japan's prime minister Naoto Kan surveyed the damage in the town of Rikuzentakata, which was gutted by the devastating tsunami that hit the country following the quake.
Shimanuki, whose family is living in a similar shelter 100 miles (160km) away in Natori, said Kan did not spend enough time with people on the ground.
"The government has been too focused on the Fukushima power plant rather than the tsunami victims," said Shimanuki, 35. "Both deserve attention."
One member of the power plant crew described difficult conditions inside the complex in an interview in the Mainichi newspaper. He said the plant has run out of the nylon protective booties that workers put over their shoes.
Japanese media reported that nuclear workers had been offered up to 400,000 yen (£3,000) a day to work inside the crippled reactors.
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