The terrible earthquake and tsunami seriously damaged the Fukushima nuclear power station. And one year later, radiation continues to be a big problem. Tony Cheng reports.

Mrs Ohashi climbs the stairs to the Doctors surgery. A year after the meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant and her children are frequently sick. When they leave their area they get better when they return, so do their ailments.

Kumiko Ohashi said, "The eldest one went away during the summer. When she came back in November she had mouth blisters intermittently but from mid December when she went away again, the blisters went away."

Her doctor, a specialist in the effects of radiation sickness, has seen many cases in Fukushima prefecture like this. The symptoms could have many causes. People in Fukushima have been living under extreme stress for the past year. But he has also made several trips to Chernobyl, and he fears radiation maybe a contributing factor.

Dr. Tomoyuki, Yamazaki, radiation specialist, said, "Chernobyl's high radiation areas measure 12 or 13 times as high as we're seeing here, but there are parts of Koriayama and Fukushima which are forty times as high as it is here."

The area around the crippled nuclear plant is now an exclusion zone. The only people going in and out are radiation-suited specialists trying to stabilize the plant. But radiation levels here are not very high. On the edge of Fukushima city, 60 kilometers from the nuclear plant, the situation is very different.

The Japanese government has been criticized for reacting too slowly, but they say they have done everything necessary. And they make the point that there is no conclusive evidence, radiation at these levels is harmful.

Itaru Watanabe, exec director of Nuclear Safety, Ministry of Education, said, "At this time we don't know whether radiation is affecting childrens health. Our job is to continue monitoring the environment and accurately grasp the levels of radiation in the environment and convey that to Japanese people and the rest of the world".

But still the full extent of the damage from Fukushima is being revealed. Dr Kimura, an independent researcher, discovered radiation hot spots all over the mountains. These are areas where contamination has collected, well above even recommended safety levels.

Shinzo Kimura, researcher, said, "Of course it is dangerous. But if people leave this region one by one, their 1000-year-long history, tradition, culture and community will vanish because of the nuclear disaster. "

One year after the disaster, and the crisis continues. The impact of the tsunami wave that devastated the coast, is still being felt hundreds of meters above sea level.