UN nuclear watchdog agency offers assistance following Japanese earthquake

The United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has offered assistance to Japan after a powerful earthquake rocked the Asian island nation on 16 July.

The IAEA has been closely monitoring the situation at the Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear power plant – on the northern coast of Japan’s largest island Honshu – since the earthquake.

Early data shows the tremors may have exceeded the plant’s seismic design assumption, according to a press release issued by the Agency.

Noting that a thorough and transparent investigation of the earthquake’s impact on the facility is essential, the IAEA has suggested sending a team of international experts to join the country’s efforts in assessing the consequences of the tremors.