The nuclear crisis has further deepened in Japan. Authorities said, a reactor vessel at the crippled Fukushima atomic plant may have damaged as some workers were exposed to radiation levels 10,000 times higher than normal. This has prompted Premier Naoto Kan to term the situation as very grave. The radiation leak detected at the No.3 reactor indicated possible damage to the unit's vessel, pipes or valves. This was disclosed by Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency yesterday, two weeks after the magnitude 9 quake and tsunami rocked the country's northeast leaving over 27,000 people dead or unaccounted for. Authorities said, three workers, who received burn injuries on Thursday at the No.3 reactor's turbine building, were exposed to the water containing radioactive materials 10,000 times the normal level. Following the incident, the nuclear agency ordered the Tokyo Electric Power Company, TEPCO, the operator the nuclear plant, to improve radiation management at the crisis-hit facility. TEPCO has already begun removing the highly radioactive water from the site.