UN nuclear watchdog in touch with Japan over power plant accident

The United Nations nuclear watchdog agency is in contact with Japanese authorities over an accident in the steam generator turbine circuit of the Mihama Nuclear Power Plant some 320 kilometres west of Tokyo.

The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it had received information from Japanese nuclear regulatory authorities who reported that the accident occurred in a non-radioactive part of the plant.

The IAEA said it expected to receive updates on a continuous basis, adding that no request for assistance had been received.

According to latest reports from Japan, four workers were scalded to death when a pipe burst and seven others were injured, three seriously.