In a second incident, a small crack was found at another reactor at a nuclear power plant in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, in central Japan, the Japan Atomic Power Co. said.

Hokkaido Electric had been monitoring the situation after discovering the coolant leakage Saturday night inside a reactor at the Tomari nuclear power station in Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost main island.

No radioactive material seeped out of the facility, it said, adding that the company was shutting down the reactor for repairs.

The crack at the Tsuruga reactor was found during a regular inspection, Japan Atomic Power said, adding that it has detected no radioactive leakage to outside the reactor.

The announcements came less than two weeks after the government's Nuclear Safety Commission stressed the need for safety and transparency in an annual report that criticised Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) for safety defects cover-ups that surfaced a year ago.

The government blamed the scandal on the absence of a "safety culture" at

The world's largest private power company was forced to shut down all 17 of its nuclear reactors earlier this year for inspections.

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