To ask the Secretary of State for Energy when he expects to consult his Japanese opposite number regarding the radiation leak at the nuclear power station of Kansai Electric; and if he will make a statement.
My Department has been informed of the incident at the Mihama-2 plant at Kansai Electric on Saturday 9 February by our embassy in Tokyo and has also received information from other sources including the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, to which the Japanese Government have supplied an account of events.
From the accounts that my Department has received, it would appear that the amount of radioactivity released was extremely small and that there is no reason to believe that it constituted any danger to the population or the environment. My Department has also been told that the incident was not serious and that the reactor was shut down safely by its own protective systems.