U.N. nuclear agency begins review of Japan's Fukushima plant

By Mari Saito TOKYO (Reuters) - U.N. nuclear experts arrived in Japan on Monday to assess the decommissioning of the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant and the operator's progress in removing fuel rods from a destroyed reactor building and minimizing leaks of contaminated water. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the U.N.'s watchdog for nuclear power, is conducting its second review of plans for decommissioning that may take four decades after the world's worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986. The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, 220 km (130 miles) north of Tokyo, was wrecked by a huge earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. During their last review in April, the IAEA was critical of the cleanup effort by the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co, saying its plan had an unrealistic time frame and calling for a comprehensive approach to handling contaminated water.

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