Asia-Pacific

IAEA to begin new probe into Fukushima

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The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has sent a team of nuclear experts to Japan to inspect the country’s troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant for the third time since 2011.

The 12-member team will start its on-site inspection at the plant from Wednesday to Friday.

The members of the mission and Japanese officials met on Monday in Tokyo ahead of the investigation.

The nuclear plant was severely damaged in the devastating 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011.

The waves from the tsunami, which hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant 45 minutes after the quake, shut down the back-up generators. The early damage disabled the reactor’s cooling systems, leading to meltdowns, explosions and radiation leaks.

Juan Carlos Lentijo, the head of the mission, said his team was scheduled to study melted reactors, radiation levels and waste management at the plant.

“After this week of discussions, I hope that we will have new information to give our assessment and to give our feedback to the government of Japan,” Lentijo stated.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) on April 11 confirmed another radioactive water leak at the crippled plant.

It said 22 liters of radioactive water had seeped into the soil as workers were pumping out contaminated water from one of the troubled underground tanks.

On April 6, TEPCO said in a statement that 120 tons of contaminated water had leaked from a key tank in the Fukushima Daiichi plant, and may have contaminated the surrounding areas.

The Fukushima Daiichi plant has leaked radiation into air, soil and the Pacific Ocean ever since the March 2011 disaster.

Nuclear experts say it will take decades to prepare the necessary safety for the return of the thousands of residents who were forced to leave their homes since they were located within the 20-kilometer evacuation zone around the crippled plant.

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