Atomic experts to visit Japan to evaluate stress tests

Jan 17, 2012, 9:47 GMT

Tokyo - A team of experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will visit Japan next week to examine stress tests on suspended nuclear reactors in the wake of the Fukushima disaster, the government said Tuesday.

About 10 experts from the nuclear power regulatory authorities of IAEA member states will examine utility stress tests and offer advice on improvement, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said.

The team will visit reactors 3 and 4 at Oi Nuclear Power Station run by Kansai Electric Power Co in central Japan for two days and hold talks with agency officials, the agency said.

On Monday, local media reported the agency wouuld endorse the tests on two reactors at the Oi plant. The results were submitted by Kansai Electric. The decision will be the first since tests were introduced in July.

Anti-nuclear activists say the government and Kansai Electric want to restart one of the two reactors immediately.

The IAEA visit is not linked to the restart of the reactors, said Takeshi Yamasaki, a Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency official.

Only five of the nation's 54 nuclear reactors are in service and all of them are scheduled to be halted for servicing by the end of April. Unless a utility restarts one, none will be left running after that time.

Japan's utilities have shut down their reactors for regular checkups or maintenance, but they have been unable to restart them amid mounting public concerns about atomic power.

In July, the government said safety assessments on nuclear reactors across the country would be conducted in two stages as it seeks to reassure the public in the wake of the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station.

The plant was hit by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, which triggered the crisis, leading to meltdowns at three of its six reactors.

The IAEA team has no plan to visit the Fukushima plant during its stay, Yamasaki said.

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