TOKYO (AP) — A team of experts from the U.N. nuclear agency inspected the tsunami-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant Wednesday for a review of its discharge of treated radioactive wastewater into the Pacific.
The International Atomic Energy Agency inspection was part of a four-day visit to Japan that started Tuesday, its second since the water discharge began last August despite strong protests from fishing groups and neighboring China, which has banned Japanese seafood. The IAEA team will issue a report later.
The Japanese government and the plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, or TEPCO, say the discharges are diluted to better than international standards, and IAEA chief Rafael Mariano Grossi said in March that they were being carried out safely.
During the site visit Wednesday, the plant suffered a temporary blackout when some underground digging apparently damaged an electrical cable in an area separate from the water discharge. The blackout halted the water discharges for several hours, but the IAEA was nonetheless able to complete its inspection, according to TEPCO.
One excavation worker suffered burns and had to be treated in hospital, but the plant's cooling systems were unaffected and the water discharge resumed safely Wednesday evening, TEPCO said.
The IAEA did not immediately comment on the blackout.
A 2011 earthquake and tsunami damaged the Fukushima plant’s power supply and reactor cooling functions, triggering meltdowns of three reactors and causing large amounts of radioactive wastewater to accumulate. After more than a decade of cleanup work, the plant began discharging the water after treating it and diluting it with seawater on Aug. 24, starting a process that’s expected to take decades.
After Wednesday’s plant visit, the IAEA team members are expected to have more discussion in Tokyo through Friday. Data and samples collected from the Fukushima plant will be corroborated at IAEA labs and independent third-party labs from China, South Korea, Switzerland and the United States, and will be released in a report later.
“This independent, objective and science-based approach will help build confidence to the people in Japan and beyond,” mission leader Gustavo Caruso, director of safety and security coordination at IAEA, said at a meeting Tuesday with Japanese officials.
The team includes independent international experts from 10 countries – Argentina, Australia, Britain, Canada, China, France, Russia, South Korea, the United States and Vietnam.
Japan’s government and TEPCO note that the treated water is filtered and diluted by large amounts of seawater. Results of monitoring of seawater and marine life samples near the plant show concentrations of tritium, the only inseparable radioactive material, are far below recommended limits, they say.
Fishing groups worry about a negative reputation from the release, and neighboring China has not been convinced of the safety. China banned all imports of Japanese seafood immediately after the release began.
The plant has released about 31,200 tons of the treated water in four batches. The ongoing fifth batch of 7,800-ton release lasts through May 7.
Wednesday’s cable damage and blackout was a latest in a series of incidents at the plant in recent months. In October, two workers were hospitalized after being splashed with radioactive liquid while cleaning a water treatment system, though they had no health problems from the exposure. In February, some contaminated water leaked at another facility on the plant due to human error.
FILE - The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in Kashiwazaki, Niigata prefecture, northern Japan, on April 2021. The operator of the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant said on Monday that it has obtained permission from safety regulators to start loading atomic fuel into a reactor at its only operable plant in north-central Japan, which it is keen to restart for the first time since the 2011 disaster. Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, or TEPCO, said that it obtained the Nuclear Regulation Authority’s approval to load nuclear fuel into the No. 7 reactor at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata and it was to start the process later Monday. (Kyodo News via AP, File)
DALLAS (AP) — Radek Faksa made a promise to his 2 1/2-year-old son when they were playing together before the Dallas Stars took the ice for Game 7.
Faksa did indeed score in his return to the lineup after missing four games because of an undisclosed injury. His go-ahead goal came on a backhander 44 seconds into the third period, after his son had been taken home, and Dallas beat the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights 2-1 on Sunday night to wrap up the first-round series.
“I’m happy I did," Faksa said. “And so I can show him the video in the morning, and we can watch it together.”
Only captain Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin have played longer for the Stars than Faksa, a fourth-liner in his ninth season who got his goal from the circle to the left of goalie Adin Hill. Dallas also got another Game 7 goal from 20-year-old Wyatt Johnston.
Jake Oettinger had 21 saves in his second Game 7 victory. He also had the Stars' only penalty, though they killed that off after he was called for tripping Ivan Barbashev in front of the net midway through the third.
“The last period was a clinic. Just so proud of the guys of how we responded,” Oettinger said. "It’s a long playoffs and you’re going to need different guys to step up at different times. A lot of hockey left so hopefully a lot more heroes. It’s going to be a run ride.”
The Stars, the No. 1 seed in the West, move on to play well-rested Colorado in the second round. Game 1 is in Dallas on Tuesday night, a week after the Avalanche wrapped up their series against Winnipeg with a Game 5 victory.
Brett Howden scored for Vegas, which couldn’t pull off another series winner in Dallas, where last year the Knights wrapped up the Western Conference Final with a win in Game 6. Hill had 22 saves in his third game of this series after Logan Thompson started the first four.
The visitor won the first four games in this series until the home teams held serve the last three games.
“There’s probably a lot of doubters out there. After Game 2, they probably thought we couldn’t come back,” Benn said. “A lot of believers in this room, in this organization. And we showed ’em.”
Dallas has won Game 7s in each of its first two postseasons for coach Pete DeBoer, who is now 8-0 in his career in such games with four different teams. That includes the Knights’ only Game 7 wins in 2020 and 2021 when he was their coach.
Johnston scored his series-high fourth goal on a wrister from the top of the slot with 5:26 left in the first period after picking off a clearing pass by Shea Theodore that his teammate, Tomas Hertl, missed when taking a twisting swipe at it.
A day after his 20th birthday last May, Johnston became the youngest player in NHL history with a game-clinching goal in a Game 7. He gathered a puck that ricocheted off the back boards in the third period of the Stars' 2-1 win over Seattle in that second-round series.
The goal Sunday against came in quick succession after Vegas had two scoring chances. Oettinger made a tough save to deny Jack Eichel and Jonathan Marchessault then shot the rebound off the left post, and got a hit on Johnston before the Dallas youngster skated to the other end and scored about 10 seconds later.
“I think a couple of our players will probably not sleep tonight, because if you look at what transpired in the game,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “We hit a post, take them down, they score 10 seconds later. We miss an open net at the end of the second, and they score on the first shift of the third. ... It’s a little bit of hockey sometimes when two close teams play.”
The series ended with both teams scoring 16 goals.
Vegas, which returned 22 of its 27 players from the Stanley Cup-winning roster, tied it in the second period when Michael Amadio made a crossing pass to Howden, who poked the puck into the open left side of the net behind Oettinger.
The only coach other than DeBoer to win eight Game 7s is Darryl Sutter, who was 8-3 in such games over 182 playoff games over 15 postseasons with four teams.
The Knights are 2-2 in Game 7s. DeBoer was also the opposing coach in their other loss, to San Jose in 2019.
It was only the second time of 16 that the Stars won a best-of-seven series after losing the first two games. The only other was the very first playoff series in franchise history, when the Minnesota North Stars were down 0-2 before beating the Los Angeles Kings in seven games to open the 1968 playoffs.
AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL
Spectators react during the third period in Game 7 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series between the Dallas Stars and the Vegas Golden Knights, Sunday, May 5, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Brandon Wade)
Dallas Stars' Jamie Benn (14) controls the puck as he and teammate Joe Pavelski (16) attack against Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Shea Theodore (27) and goaltender Adin Hill during the second period in Game 7 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series, Sunday, May 5, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Brandon Wade)
Dallas Stars left wing Jason Robertson works out prior to Game 7 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series against the Vegas Golden Knights, Sunday, May 5, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Brandon Wade)
Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Adin Hill deflects a shot during the first period in Game 7 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series against the Dallas Stars, Sunday, May 5, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Brandon Wade)
Dallas Stars center Radek Faksa (12) competes for the puck against Vegas Golden Knights center Nicolas Roy (10) and defenseman Alec Martinez (23) during the third period in Game 7 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series, Sunday, May 5, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Brandon Wade)
Vegas Golden Knights right wing Mark Stone (61) and center William Karlsson (71) try to control the puck against the Dallas Stars during the second period in Game 7 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series, Sunday, May 5, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Brandon Wade)
Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger, right, blocks a shot as teammate Roope Hintz (24) defends against Vegas Golden Knights center Tomas Hertl (48) during the first period in Game 7 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series, Sunday, May 5, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Brandon Wade)
Vegas Golden Knights center Brett Howden (21) celebrates his second period goal with Michael Amadio (22) in Game 7 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series against the Dallas Stars, Sunday, May 5, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Brandon Wade)
Dallas Stars center Logan Stankoven (11) skates against Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Alec Martinez (23) during the first period in Game 7 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series, Sunday, May 5, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Brandon Wade)
Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Adin Hill, top, leaves his crease to make a save on a breakaway by Dallas Stars center Sam Steel (18) during the third period in Game 7 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series, Sunday, May 5, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Brandon Wade)
Vegas Golden Knights center Tomas Hertl (48) skates by as Dallas Stars center Wyatt Johnston (53) celebrates his first period goal in Game 7 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series, Sunday, May 5, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Brandon Wade)
Dallas Stars players acknowledge spectators following their 2-1 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 7 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series, Sunday, May 5, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Brandon Wade)
Streamers drop after the Dallas Stars defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 2-1 in Game 7 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series, Sunday, May 5, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Brandon Wade)
Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Adin Hill eyes the puck on a scoring shot by Dallas Stars center Radek Faksa during the third period in Game 7 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series, Sunday, May 5, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Brandon Wade)
Dallas Stars center Wyatt Johnston, center, celebrates his first period goal with Joe Pavelski (16) and Miro Heiskanen (4) during Game 7 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series against the Vegas Golden Knights, Sunday, May 5, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Brandon Wade)
