World's largest nuke plant closed for 'months'

TOKYO (AFP) - UN inspectors said Friday that the world's largest nuclear plant in Japan will be closed for months after being hit with an earthquake.

A mission from the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), spent four days inspecting the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant.

The giant facility northwest of Tokyo caught fire and leaked a small amount of radiation following a powerful earthquake on July 16, which killed 11 people in unrelated incidents.

"When you think of starting such a plant, you have to very carefully think about what you have to check first" and the possibility of future earthquakes, IAEA team leader Philippe Jamet said.

"This is one of the tasks in the following months (or) a year, I don't know, that has to be carried out, if this plant is to restart," Jamet told reporters after meeting with authorities in Tokyo.

He said the team would present its preliminary findings to IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei on Monday at the UN agency's Vienna headquarters.

The plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., has already downgraded earnings forecasts on the assumption that the seven-reactor facility will be down for at least a year.

Authorities have ordered it shut until the company confirms its safety.
Tokyo Electric, the world's largest private power company, said the leaked radiation was far below amounts that would be dangerous but came under criticism for initially underreporting the severity of the incident.

Despite its propensity for earthquakes, Japan relies on nuclear plants for nearly one-third of its power needs as it has virtually no natural energy resources.