The damage on a nuclear power plant in northwest Japan caused by
a strong earthquake appears to be "limited", said the International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in a Tuesday report.
"Damage from the earthquake appears to be limited" and "the very
small amount of radioactivity released was well below the
authorized limits for public health and environmental safety," it
said, citing reports by the six-member expert team sent by the UN
nuclear watchdog.
The team was dispatched upon the request of the Japanese
authorities on Aug. 5 to have an evaluation of the damage from a
magnitude 6.8 earthquake.
The quake rocked the Niigata prefecture in northwestern Japan on
July 16, where the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant is
seated.
The Director General of the IAEA, Mohamed ElBaradei, welcomed
the cooperation from the Japanese authorities and praised the
transparency enjoyed by the IAEA team.
"The mission's findings and the Japanese analyses of the event
include important lessons learned, both positive and negative, that
will be relevant to other nuclear plants worldwide," he said.
(Xinhua News Agency August 15, 2007)
