A Japanese parliamentary panel is to release its report into the handling of the nuclear disaster at Fukushima, after months of hearings.

According to BBC News, the report is expected to be critical of both government officials and plant operator Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco).

Meanwhile, the first nuclear reactor to be switched back on since the March 2011 disaster has started generating electricity.

The restart, ordered by PM Yoshihiko Noda last month, was met with protests.


The parliamentary panel, formed last May, said in December 2011 in its interim findings that Tepco and the country's nuclear body had failed to ''take precautionary measures in anticipation that a severe accident could be caused by a tsunami such as the one which hit''.

The government of then Prime Minister Naoto Kan was also criticised for being slow to respond to the crisis and delaying the dissemination of information to the public.

When he appeared before the panel, Kan said he had been unable to get a full picture of what was happening at the plant.