BREAKING NEWS

IAEA begins review of Japan's nuclear stress tests

TOKYO - A team of UN nuclear experts on Monday began a review of tests conducted by Japan to prove the safety of its nuclear reactors in the wake of the Fukushima radiation crisis. The Vienna-based International Atomic Agency's (IAEA) team of 10 experts will be in Japan until Jan. 31.
"We are conducting a review that they (the Japanese government) requested of their methodology and approach for conducting comprehensive safety assessments or stress tests," James Lyons, the leader of the IAEA team, told reporters.
Public anxiety about nuclear safety since Fukushima, where the March 11 earthquake and tsunami knocked out cooling systems and triggered reactor meltdowns and radiation leaks, causing mass evacuations and widespread contamination, has prevented the restart of reactors shut for maintenance.
Only five of the nation's 54 nuclear reactors remain in operation.