The damage on a nuclear power plant in northwest Japan caused by a strong earthquake appears to be "limited", said the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in a Tuesday report.

"Damage from the earthquake appears to be limited" and "the very small amount of radioactivity released was well below the authorized limits for public health and environmental safety," it said, citing reports by the six-member expert team sent by the UN nuclear watchdog.

The team was dispatched upon the request of the Japanese authorities on Aug. 5 to have an evaluation of the damage from a magnitude 6.8 earthquake.

The quake rocked the Niigata prefecture in northwestern Japan on July 16, where the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant is seated.

The Director General of the IAEA, Mohamed ElBaradei, welcomed the cooperation from the Japanese authorities and praised the transparency enjoyed by the IAEA team.

"The mission's findings and the Japanese analyses of the event include important lessons learned, both positive and negative, that will be relevant to other nuclear plants worldwide," he said.

(Xinhua News Agency August 15, 2007)