Tanks for storing radioactive water were on their way Saturday, June 4, to the crippled nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan where reactor cores melted after the massive earthquake and tsunami.

Radioactive water has been leaking from the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant since it was struck by the March 11 disasters, with tons having already flushed into the sea and more continuing to pool across the complex.

Tokyo Electric Power Co., the utility that operates the plant, has said radioactive water could start overflowing from temporary storage areas on June 20, or possibly sooner if there is heavy rainfall.

Two of the 370 tanks were due to arrive Saturday from a manufacturer in nearby Tochigi prefecture (state), TEPCO said. Two hundred of them can store 100 tons, and 170 can store 120 tons.

The tanks will continue arriving through August, and will store a total of 40,000 tons of radioactive water.

The radiation level near the smoky area reached as high as 4,000 millisieverts per hour, much too high for any human to get near that area, and confirming the formidable obstacles Fukushima workers face in fixing the problems at the reactors.

The March earthquake and tsunami left 24,000 people dead or missing, and left tens of thousands of others living in evacuation centers - including residents near Fukushima Dai-ichi whose homes were intact but still had to leave to avoid risks of radiation exposure.