Japan's government is consulting with experts from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the French nuclear fuel company Areva, said Hidehiko Nishiyama, deputy director-general of Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency and the agency's chief spokesman.

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"It's a harsh environment for humans to work inside, " said Hidehiko Nishiyama of Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (Nisa).

BBC: Robots record high radiation levels at Japan reactors

The Daily Yomiuri continued to follow the government's moves to investigate the accident with a story about how Japan's Science and Technology Agency plans to exactly re-create the nuclear fission chain reactions that occurred at the plant--presumably under safer conditions.

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Two officials from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission with expertise in boiling water nuclear reactors have deployed to Japan as part of a U.S. International Agency for International Development (USAID) team.

FORBES: U.S. Nuclear Commission Puts Boots on the Ground in Japan

Japan Nuclear Fuel's Mr. Fukushi stressed that the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, will closely monitor Rokkasho's operation to guard against potential diversion of the weapons-usable plutonium.

WSJ: U.S. Opposes Japan's Nuclear Plan