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Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), operator of the Japanese nuclear reactors, attracted more than 117,000 followers to its Twitter account during its first six hours with just two tweets.

TEPCO planned to use the microblogging site to provide information about radiation leaks and blackouts. Its Twitter account (@OfficialTEPCO) which was created on 17 March, so far has only posted tweets in Japanese.

The account's profile translates as: 'We sincerely apologise for causing serious worries and trouble over the accident at Fukishima No1 Nuclear Power Plant, radiation leak, planned blackouts.'

The first tweet indicated the risk of major power blackouts in Tokyo if electricity use was not reduced in the after effects of the disaster, as the supply had been dramatically reduced since the tragedy hit the capital's power plants.

Japan's prime minister Naoto Kan announced yesterday that he had authorised managed outages to prevent any sudden major supply disruption.

TEPCO has been under fire with criticism over delays in disclosing information related to the plant. Information and news updates can now be provided instantly via the Twitter feed.

The @OfficialTEPCO account currently has just fewer than 24,000 followers. Only thirteen tweets have been written in the first four days.

By contrast, the official English Twitter account of the Prime Minister's Office of Japan (@JPN_PMO) has posted 108 tweets. The profile notes that most of the information provided will be the translation of @Kantei_Saigai.

One of the tweets posted this morning read: 'Radiation exceeding gov't limits was detected in spinach and milk, but there is no immediate risk to human health.' Another talks of 'grayish smoke seen billowing from Unit 3 reactor', however that it is of no great worry at present and that they will 'continue to monitor the situation'.

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