UN nuclear agency experts leave for Japan

Farmers place spinach they produced in Fukushima prefecture during their protest in front of the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) headquarters in Tokyo Tuesday, April 26, 2011. More than 200 farmers affected by radiation spewing from the tsunami crippled Dai-ichi nuclear power plant staged a demonstration to demand that TEPCO pays them adequate compensation for loss of income caused by having to leave their farms, or for having produced withdrawn from the market due to contamination fears. Sign reads: What can you do with the spinach? (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

VIENNA— UN nuclear experts are en route to Japan for a fact-finding trip in the wake of a devastating tsunami that caused major damage and radiation leaks at one of the country’s power plants.

The International Atomic Energy Agency says the mission, which starts Tuesday and ends June 2, will focus on safety issues and include a visit to the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant that was hard hit by the March 11 killer wave triggered by a massive earthquake.

The delegation, which left Vienna on Sunday, will report its findings to a conference of IAEA member nation government ministers starting June 20.

The disaster at Fukushima plant is seen as the world’s worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl and has raised questions about the lax oversight of Japan’s nuclear industry.