Fire erupts in Japan nuke plant

Tokyo, April 11 (IANS) A fire broke out at an idled nuclear power plant in Japan's Niigata prefecture on Tuesday, and was quickly extinguished, local media said.

The fire was detected just after 11 a.m. at the No. 5 reactor building at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant located on the coast of the Sea of Japan, reports Xinhua news agency.

The plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), said flames were seen near the motor of a washing machine on the first floor of a building close to the reactor, according to Japan's public broadcaster NHK.

Following the fire being extinguished, TEPCO said that there had been no reports of any abnormalities at the plant and no one was injured.

The plant's seven reactors are all currently offline and the utility said radiation levels remained unchanged at monitoring stations and there is no danger of radioactive substances leaking from the plant.

The plant was previously under scrutiny in March 2021, as Japan's nuclear regulatory body decided to ban the transportation of nuclear fuel to the compound owing to "severe security breaches".

Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority at the time decided to ban TEPCO from transporting to the plant or loading nuclear fuel into its reactors, as the plant's intruder detection and backup systems were found to be defective.

As to the cause of Tuesday's fire, TEPCO said an investigation is underway.