Water leak at Japan nuclear plant


Locals have protested against the nuclear plant
Radioactive water has leaked inside a Japanese nuclear reprocessing plant, according to reports.
Japan's Kyodo news agency said up to 40 litres of water containing plutonium leaked at the site, which had just opened for a test run.

The leak was contained within a compound and there were no injuries.

Nuclear installations, which supply much of Japan's power, have come under the spotlight in recent years after a string of accidents and mishaps.

The plant, in the village of Rokkasho, Aomori prefecture, was designed to be one of the country's new generation of nuclear processing plants.

It is one of Japan's first plants to be able to extract uranium and plutonium from spent nuclear fuel.

Local residents have protested against the plant in the light of Japan's shaky nuclear record.

In March the government ordered the closure of a plant north-west of Tokyo amid fears it would not survive an earthquake.

A fire in another plant in western Japan also caused concerns, while five people died in 2004 when a pipe burst at the Mihama reactor.



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