The agency has been accused of a cover-up after a bungled attempt to put out the fire at Tokaimura.

ECONOMIST: Japan

Mar 1997: Explosion causes radiation leak at Tokaimura, Japan, an experimental facility.

FORBES: China, India Dominate List of World's New Nuke Power Projects

Tokaimura, of course, raises more questions concerning Japan's extensive nuclear power program.

CNN: 'We're Scared for Our Baby'

Some of the people evacuated from the immediate vicinity of the plant returned home two days later, considerably more skeptical of Tokaimura's main industry.

CNN: 'We're Scared for Our Baby'

The fuel arrived at a sensitive time, following the major nuclear accident at Tokaimura nuclear plant which killed one worker and exposed hundreds to radioactive fall-out.

BBC: UK 'regret' over Japan nuclear row

JCO, the company that operates the uranium-processing plant at Tokaimura, had quietly compiled a manual that encouraged workers to cut corners, quite illegally, to reduce costs.

ECONOMIST: All over in a flash

The International Atomic Energy Agency has classified the Tokaimura accident, which was the worst in Japanese history, as level four on its seven-point scale, making it the world's most serious since the level-seven disaster at Chernobyl in 1986.

ECONOMIST: All over in a flash