A team of three nuclear safety specialists from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna is leaving today for Japan to ascertain the facts relating to the September 30 criticality accident at a fuel conversion facility in Tokaimura, following the Japanese Government's announced acceptance of the IAEA's offer to send such a team.

Between October 13-15 the team will visit both Tokyo and Tokaimura, where they will conduct their work and hold discussions. They will return to Vienna over the weekend and prepare an internal report on their findings. No public statements are planned while the team is engaged in fulfilling its mission.

Consultations are underway on the separate question of a possible review, within the framework of the IAEA, at a later stage of the outcome of the overall investigation of the accident and the lessons to be learned.