A team of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) experts Monday started in Tokyo a follow-up inspection on an earthquake-hit nuclear plant in Japan, which has been shut since last July and checked by the U.N. watchdog in August.
The team, led by Philippe Jamet, director of the IAEA's Nuclear Installation Safety Division, will first be provided with study results by Japan's nuclear safety authority and the operator of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant, the largest in the world in terms of output capacity, Kyodo News reported.
The nuke plant, located in central western Japan's Niigata prefecture, leaked low-level radioactive materials and has been closed since a magnitude 6.8 quake rocked the area on July 16. The quake killed over 10 people and injured more than 2,000.
The five-day examination will also include a revisit to the power plant by the IAEA experts and talks with officials of Japan's safety agency and the power company. The team is also expected to check underground geological conditions at the site and the insides of the reactor vessels using a camera, the report said.
However, it is still unclear whether the follow-up inspection will be final or the power station can be reopened soon.
Last August, a six-member IAEA team checked the quake-hit nuke plant at the Japanese government's invitation. They concluded then that the quake "significantly exceeded the level of seismic activity for which the plant was designed," though the radioactive leak was "well below the authorized limits for public health and environmental safety."
Source: Xinhua
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