UN nuclear inspectors arrive in Japan to inspect quake-hit nuclear power plant

TOKYO (AP) - A team of U.N. nuclear inspectors arrived in Japan on Sunday to assess the condition of a nuclear power plant severely damaged in an earthquake last month, Japanese officials said.

The July 11 magnitude 6.8 quake in Niigata prefecture (state) killed 11 people and injured more than 1,000. It also caused numerous malfunctions and leaks at the plant -- the world's largest in terms of capacity -- that have raised concerns for safety at the country's nuclear power stations.

The International Atomic Energy Agency team, led by Philippe Jamet, Director of the Nuclear Installation Safety Division, plans to examine the plant beginning Monday for four days before returning to Tokyo on Friday for talks with Japanese nuclear safety officials, according to a statement by the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.

Japanese officials, already at the plant for investigations, will cooperate with the six-member IAEA team but the IAEA's probe would be an independent one, agency officials said.