The U.N. nuclear agency commends Japanese efforts to clean up radiation from its crippled Fukushima nuclear reactor in a report Tuesday, but urges the country to consider several additional steps.

The International Atomic Energy Agency based its report on a fact-finding visit to Japan last month by 12 international experts.

The report highlights several positive steps taken by Japanese authorities, including the prompt allocation of legal, economic and technological resources to the problem, and the priority given to cleaning up areas frequented by children.

But it says authorities should consider additional steps, including better marking of safe routes through affected areas and a decision on where radioactive materials will be permanently stored.

The report also suggests that Japanese officials divert resources from cleaning up seldom visited areas, such as forests, to areas where they will have more impact on human health.

The report says the IAEA team mainly studied areas outside a 20-kilometer exclusion zone surrounding the Fukushima Daichi nuclear power plant, which has been leaking radiation since an earthquake and tsunami destroyed its cooling systems on March 11.

Radiation from the plant has been found in the air, soil and water as far away as Tokyo.

The experts say Japan did well to adopt a conservative approach to the threat of radiation in the early days after the accident, amid uncertainty over the extent of the problem.

But they urge authorities to avoid being overly conservative in areas where it will not contribute to reduced public exposure. The IAEA offers to help Japan develop new criteria for its decisions.