TOKYO, Aug 9: A steam leak at a Japanese N-power plant killed five workers on Monday, police said, but officials said no radiation had escaped in the accident, the worst ever in terms of deaths at a Japanese nuclear facility.

Several others were injured, some seriously, officials said. The incident, which took place on the anniversary of the 1945 atomic bombing of the city of Nagasaki, is certain to increase distrust of the nuclear industry among ordinary people in Japan, which depends on nuclear power for a third of its energy needs.

"Radioactive materials weren't contained in the steam that leaked out ... We've received a report that there is no impact from radiation on the surrounding environment," an official for the Nuclear Agency told newsmen. -Reuters