IAEA inspects Japan's quake-hit nuclear plant

KASHIWAZAKI (AFP) - UN inspectors on Monday examined the world's largest nuclear plant, which leaked a small amount of radiation following a powerful earthquake.

Japan invited the team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in a bid to dispel concerns at home and overseas about risks from the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant.

The IAEA team started the visit just as Japan was mourning the dead on the 62nd anniversary of the world's first atomic attack in Hiroshima, which has made the nation especially sensitive to nuclear issues.

The six-member team will spend four days inside the giant, seven-reactor facility some 250 kilometres (155 miles) northwest of Tokyo, which is expected to be closed for at least a year pending safety checks.

"Today is the first day on the plant, so we'll have a general approach of the plant and what went on," team leader Philippe Jamet, wearing a special protective suit, told reporters as they entered the facility.

"Our aim today is to draw lessons from the earthquake that happened here, to share with the international community," said Jamet, director of the IAEA's Nuclear Installation Safety Division.

A powerful 6.8 Richter-scale quake hit central Japan on July 16, causing smoke to billow out from the section generating electricity for the plant. The nuclear reactors automatically shut down.

The operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., said radioactive water leaked into the Sea of Japan (East Sea) and that radioactive particles blew out of an exhaust pipe filter.

Tokyo Electric, which is the world's largest private power company, said the radiation was far below amounts that would be dangerous but came under criticism for initially underreporting the level.

The government of Niigata prefecture, which is home to the plant, had requested the IAEA visit in hopes of easing public concerns.

The Japanese government also took the rare step of rebuking foreign media coverage of the nuclear leak as sensationalistic after Italian soccer team Catania cancelled a tour of the country, citing worries about radiation.

"We are very satisfied at the agency at the Japanese government that invited us so soon," the IAEA's Jamet said. "I think it's a good move from the Japanese government."

Japan is one of the most earthquake-prone nations, experiencing about 20 percent of the world's powerful tremors.

But despite the earthquakes and nuclear sensitivities, Japan has tried to step up its reliance on nuclear power as it has virtually no natural energy resources.

Nuclear power now accounts for nearly one-third of Japan's electricity, higher than in any other of the Group of Eight industrial nations except France.

The Japanese government has urged companies and consumers to try to conserve energy this summer due to the shutdown of the Kashiwazaki-Karima plant.

Last month's earthquake destroyed hundreds of buildings and killed 11 people, although none of the deaths was linked to the nuclear plant.