The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will send a team of inspectors to re-examine Tokyo Electric Power Co's (Tepco's) Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Japan, which was damaged by an earthquake of magnitude 6.8 in July 2007. The fact-finding mission will visit the site on 1-5 December to review the ongoing assessment of the impact of the quake on the seven-unit plant. The team - the third to be sent by the IAEA at the request of Japan - will study the on-going evaluation by Tepco and Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) on the integrity of the plant structure and its components. The inspectors will also review their re-appraisal of seismic safety at the plant based on newly defined "seismic hazard assessments". At the time of the earthquake, only three of the seven boiling water reactors at Kashiwazaki Kariwa were operating and shut down safely as tremors began. However, water containing trace amounts of radioactivity was shaken from cooling pools of all seven units and some of this drained away to be discharged to sea. In addition, many barrels of solid radioactive waste were knocked over and an external electrical transformer failed and caught fire. The plant has remained shut down since the earthquake struck.