A team of UN nuclear inspectors began checking and assessing a
nuclear power plant in Niigata prefecture, Japan on Monday, which
was damaged by a strong earthquake last month.
The six-member International Atomic Energy Agency team will
examine whether the seven reactors of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa
nuclear power station safely shut down when the magnitude 6.8 quake
rocked the area July 16, according to Kyodo News.
The IAEA team is also likely to analyze low-level leaks of
radioactive material into the air and water from the plant, Kyodo
said.
Japan's central and local government officials hoped that the
assessment will help dispel safety concerns over the nuclear plant
heightened after the quake, which killed eleven people and injured
over a thousand. Late last month, Japan requested the UN watchdog
to come and inspect the quake-hit nuclear plant.
The team, led by Philippe Jamet, director of the Nuclear
Installation Safety Division of the Vienna-based UN nuclear
watchdog, plans to conduct a four-day assessment before returning
to Tokyo on Friday for talks with Japan's nuclear safety
officials.
The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant, the world's largest one in
terms of output capacity, has been closed indefinitely since the
quake caused the radioactive leaks and other malfunctions.
These incidents have added to public concerns over the safety of
nuclear power plants in Japan. Japan's 55 reactors supply about 30
percent of its electricity.
(Xinhua News Agency August 6, 2007)
