France and the US are sending help to Japan as part of the battle to contain radiation from a damaged nuclear complex.

Paris is sending two experts from the state-run nuclear sector and the US is sending robots to help examine reactor cores and spent fuel pools.

The French President will also visit Tokyo on Thursday, the first visit to Japan by a foreign leader since the country’s devastating earthquake and tsunami.

Workers at the Fukushima complex may have to work for weeks or months to restart cooling systems in damaged reactors.

There is alarm over evidence of mounting radiation levels inside and beyond the plant.

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Some 70,000 people have already been evacuated from their homes.

The government and the power company that runs the nuclear plants are facing fierce criticism over their handling of the crisis.