Leak at Japan nuclear plant

TOKYO, April 12 (UPI) -- Water containing radioactive material leaked at Japan's first spent nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in Rokkasho, news reports said Wednesday.

Water containing plutonium and other radioactive materials leaked at the plant in Aomori Prefecture, but no impact was seen outside, the Kyodo news service quoted Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd. as saying.

In late March, the plant began trial operations to extract plutonium and uranium from spent nuclear fuel, Kyodo reported.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration, in 2003, nuclear power accounted for 2.423 billion kilowatthours of Japan's total 1017.50 billion kilowatthours of generated electricity.