The team of experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) indicated on Friday that more time is needed for the nuclear power plant which was damaged in the July 16 Niigata earthquake to resume operations.
Process of restarting the plant could take "months or a year," team leader Philippe Jamet was quoted by Kyodo News as telling reporters.
The six-member delegation, which concluded their four-day checkup of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power station on Thursday, met on Friday with officials from plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. and the government's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency and Nuclear Safety Commission.
Jamet said his team presented its preliminary conclusions and had technical and fruitful confrontation with Japanese officials.
He dismissed the allegation that the whole area is contaminated with radioactivity, and suggested that their report would be officially released by the IAEA fairly shortly.
The team is scheduled to report to IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei sometime next week.
The delegation arrived in Japan at request of the Japanese government after a small amount of radiation leakage in the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power station was caused by the magnitude 6.8 earthquake. The six experts will leave Japan on Saturday.
