glad to have you with us on this edition of "newsline." it is friday, september 16th, 8:00 a.m. in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. researchers say a meltdown of number two reactor at the fukushima daiichi plant could have been avoided if cooling water had been injected four hours earlier. fuel melt downs occurred at the

plant's one, two, and three reactors. it is thought much of the environmental contamination was a result of an explosion at the number two reactor. they created a computer simulation of the number two reactor to see if the meltdown could have been prevented. the plant operator began to manually pump cooling water around 8:00 p.m. on march 14th. the following day, the reactor overheated and a hydrogen explosion occurred. the first examination looked at what happened if the water injection started two hours earlier. it shows the temperature of nuclear fields dropping a short while but then rising again. once it exceeds 1200 degrees celsius, a meltdown occurs. in this case. in a second simulation, water injection began four hours

earlier. at first, temperature rises, but then begins to fall before it reaches 1200 degrees. the agency has concluded that the meltdown could have been prevented if cooling water was pumped into the number two reactor four hours earlier. >> translator: the cooling operation faced a lot of difficulties. however, considering there was enough time to spare, it is necessary to look into why it took such a long time to begin pumping water into the reactor. >> tepco says it doesn't believe emergency operations were significantly delayed. officials added that workers did their best at high radiation levels and other severe conditions. insurers say the final payout for structural damage from the march earthquake and tsunami will likely top $15 billion. the figure is 15 times the previous record, following the

1995 earthquake. the 25 member general insurance association of japan released a cost projection thursday. association chairman told a news conference as of wednesday, nearly $15 billion had been paid out in about 690,000 claims. he says they are still processing 800 new claims per day. when all the claims are dealt with, total payments will likely exceed $15 billion. from the onset of the nuclear accident at the fukushima daiichi power plant, workers have been risking their lives and braving fears of radiation to contain the crisis. international media reports have described them as the heros of fukushima. earlier this month, they were given an award by spain's prince of asturias foundation but praised their courageous actions. the battle continues as the

crisis drags on. more workers are exceeding exposure limits. in today's nuclear watch, we look at how much radiation they are actually being exposed to. >> reporter: the people working at the crisis site are staying at a lodging facility 20 kilometers south of the plant. around 7:00 a.m. every morning, they leave for work in cars and buses. about 3,000 are assigned to contain the accident on a daily basis. their tasks include operating facilities to decontaminate and reuse water for cooling down the reactors, and installing covers on the reactor buildings to prevent release of nuclear materials. radiation levels are still high inside the buildings, and in areas contaminated by debris. before the accident, the workers' radiation exposure limit was set at 100 millisieverts by the japanese government.

but immediately after the accident, the health ministry raised the limit to 250 millisieverts. it feared the regular limit would force workers to be quickly sidelined due to overexposure, delaying the containment operation. the ministry based its decision on the 500 millisievert exposure limit for severe accidents set by the international commission on radiological protection. the plant operator, tokyo electric power company, says 12,000 people have worked at the crisis site and six of them have exceeded the special exposure limit of 250 millisieverts. 97 have exceeded the regular limit of 100 millisieverts. >> earlier, they talked to a reporter for more details. >> how are the workers coping with radiation exposure? >> on the whole, the workers are being exposed to less radiation

than they used to, right after the accident. the problem now is workers suffering higher doses of radiation than expected or from other complications. on wednesday, at least four workers were exposed to higher doses of radiation. last month, two workers accidentally got exposed to radioactive water. following a series of these incidents, the nuclear and industrial safety agency instructed tepco to control radiation exposure to workers and improve safety measures. >> in japan, temperatures have about 30 degrees celsius in the day due to the heat wave. must be hard for workers when it comes to wearing protective gear. will the company be able to secure enough workers? it is going to be a long haul. >> tepco says they have enough

workers. however, alarmed -- i learned things aren't that simple in the area near the plant. found an unemployment agency in fukushima prefecture contacted people to work at the facility. now they don't dispatch workers to the plant any more. the agency has set its own limit for radiation exposure to 15 millisieverts per month for its employees. but because several workers had been exposed to radiation above that limit, the company cancelled its contract at the plant. the firm's president said the decision was unavoidable. he had to protect the employees. >> translator: if i kept sending my employees to the site, they would have to stop working if they exceed the radiation limit.

i don't want to lose any of my skilled workers. >> i metta long time workers at the plant. he said working at the nuclear plant is complicated and only those who had worked there would understand. he wonders how many skilled workers would continue to work there. >> what is tepco doing to resolve these problems? >> tepco plans to train 4,000 people as radiation experts by the end of this year, in order to manage exposure to workers. they will monitor the level on site. the power company also plans to install 50 units of equipment by early next month. the equipment can measure internal radiation exposure. with those measures, tepco will try to keep the level of exposure to workers as low as

possible. on wednesday, tepco told the reporters that it is concerned about a shortage of skilled workers in the future. the firm said it will try to train more people. it added that it would encourage those working at our facilities to go and work at the fukushima daiichi plant. it is expected to take decades to remove the melted fuel rods and decommission the reactors. tepco challenge is managing radiation exposure to its workers and securing enough experienced and skilled workers. >> thanks. appreciate it. "newsline," the place to turn to for the latest on japan, post march 11th. we have two segments offering perspective on the fallout from the earthquake and tsunami.

nuclear watch brings insight and information on the fukushima daiichi crisis, and the road ahead examines japan's efforts to recover and rebuild. don't miss nuclear watch and the road ahead on "newsline." rivers in western japan have been blocked due to land slides triggered by tropical storm talas. the mayor asked residents living near dam duck river not to return to their homes as more downpours are forecast friday. the village held a meeting for about 60 people who have evacuated from districts at risk of additional land slides and floods. the mayor explained if lakes which have been formed by land slides blocking the river become flooded, then houses in the directs could be effected. he called on villagers to stay away from their houses in order

to remain safe. >> the ministry officials explained the current condition of the dammed up rivers. they said people would be promptly informed if risk arises. >> japanese prime minister yoesh ee noda to discuss north korean and issues. as japan recently experienced a nuclear accident, the prime minister will speak to world leaders without nuclear

safety. he is scheduled to meet separately with u.s. president barack obama. they will hold talks with the south korean president for the first time since becoming prime minister. he said he wants to discuss north korea's nuclear program and abduction of nationals. he hopes to confirm japan, south korea and the united states will cooperate to resolve the issues. sources close to noda say japan and sourt korea are likely to agree on resumption of negotiations toward an economic partnership agreement for free trade and investment. south korea also made a formal request for talks with japan regarding korean women forced to work in military brothels in world war ii. a treaty signed between japan and south korea when relations were normalized in 1965 stipulates that south korea waives the right to request any form of compensation.

however, south korea's constitutional court ruled it is unconstitutional for the government to make no specific effort to resolve the dispute over japan's refusal to directly kpen says wartime sex slaves known as comfort women. thursday, the south korean foreign ministry delivered proposal to japan's deputy chief of mission in seoul. in response, japan maintained all compensation issues were addressed in the 1965 bilateral treaty. japanese officials in seoul say they will take the latest south korean request home for appraisal. diplomatic sources believe the issue is likely to cause renewed friction between the countries. thailand's prime minister visited cambodia, held talks with their counter part.

both sides are deploying forces in the area. on thursday, the two sides agreed to continue a dialogue towards solving the issue, but failed to touch on the subject of troop withdrawal. >> i believe we can settle this in a peaceful way. some cooperation and some bilateral. >> friday, his brother will visit cambodia and have talks. they are expected to hold further discussions aimed at solving the dispute. a magnitude 7.4 earthquake occurred near fiji islands in the south pacific at 1931 utc

thursday or 7:31 friday morning local time. japan ministry says there is no possibility of tsunami. there are no reports of damage caused by the quake. the agency says the epicenter was near fiji, roughly 593 kilometers beneath the sea floor. next, we go to the bureau in bangk bangkok. in pakistan, the disastrous floods that have inundated south of the country worsened thursday. relief efforts continue but from us trags with authorities is running high. it damaged 1.2 million houses since late august. the death toll has surpassed 200, and thousands of people are stranded. the government and international aid agencies are under pressure to provide relief.

flood victims say they are not getting enough food, drinking water, or medicine. >> translator: the water is very dirty here. we don't have anything to eat. there is no firewood for cooking. >> pakistani authorities are also struggling to contain a fever outbreak. over 4,000 cases of the mosquito born disease were reported there in the past two months with more than a dozen fatalities. >> they say the outbreak is due to poor conditions. heavy monsoon rains are a breeding ground for mosquitos. the death toll is expected to rise, despite the government's

announcement of fume allegation drive to keep the situation under control. and more details are emerging on the attack on the u.s. embassy in kabul and nearby headquarters of nato forces. they say it is a particular group based in pakistan behind the coordinated assault. six members of the taliban seized a building under construction and fired rockets into the diplomatic district of the capital on tuesday. u.s. ambassador ryan crocker says the attack was carried out by the hakan network, a taliban associated group based in pakistan. >> the information available to us is that these attackers like those who carried out the bombing in war duck are part of a network.

they enjoy safe haven. >> u.s. forces have attacked militants in pakistan using unmanned drones while pressuring islamabad to crackdown on insurgents. the pakistani government is reluctant to engage in military action against them. ambassador crocker called for more action to limit the ability of such militant groups who operate from safe havens across the border in pakistan. finally, journalists from around the world, including several southeast asian countries have been recognized at an award ceremony in bangkok. but the reporters have a special reason to be proud. new york based human rights watch recognized 48 writers from 24 countries at the annual

awards wednesday. it is given to writers and journalists who have ideas that criticized or offend people incompetent power. this year's award east had journalists from milan, cambodia. >> everything happening to me, putting me in jail and intimidating me won't stop me. i will continue to do it. >> despite the large number of people who won recognition, not all of them were present at the ceremony and with good reason. >> a number of recipients of the award were not able to travel to thailand for fear they risked imprisonment upon their return. >> since 1990, more than 700 writers and journalists have received that award.

and with that, we wrap up our bulletin from bangkok. let's look at the latest in sumo action with murray johnson. in sumo we head into round five. we look at top rankers to see if they produced the goods. he's beaten him so far. he promises so much in this time and is delivering. he is denied and outside hold. he moves back and to the side, throws him off balance. as he moves in for the grip he wants, it becomes a matter of

time for him to get his fifth win. the share of the lead is maintained. he shows strength. a shift to the left. he moves well. chasing a promotion. he continues to look for the man to beat. he handles him easily.

the king of the ring. today i would like to show you two we would not usually present, but everyone loves a matchup with a little man taking on a big man. he is the smallest man in top division of 166 and may tors. he is 46 kilograms heavier. we see him display judo like technique we haven't seen in top division in over 7 years. a one arm shoulder throw. how sweet. after five days, the poor performances by hosaki, but others are stepping up to the mark. more from day six.

now take a look at the market figures. welcome back to your weather update. we are monitoring a couple of tropical storm systems in the pacific. the newest one well out at sea at the moment, but it is looking to veer in towards japan in the next few days.

this will be tropical storm sonca. looks like the five-day forecast shows it veering toward japan, staying well away before heading to sea. no direct threat to land now. we will keep a close eye as conditions could rapidly change in the next few days. the bigger concern now is going to be tropical storm roki, out in the islands of southern japan. bringing in tropical storm force winds. looks like it will be stalling here over the islands in the next few days. it is going to mean prolonged period of stormy conditions, high waves, strong winds, ample amounts of rainfall. actually with this system, the heaviest rains impact the northern and eastern end of the tropical storm system, so the pacific side of mainland japan will be looking at ample amounts of rain moving in today. lots of rain, especially for central sections of japan, and that will include hard hit

areas. still dealing with the aftermath of tropical storm talas, so this rain is a big concern. northern japan looking wet this afternoon. more rain comes in off the korean peninsula. and behind it, it looks dryer as we head into the evening hours. central china, another area of rain comes in. that will be wetter as you head into the rest of friday. high is 31 in tokyo. 30 degrees in seoul. summer heat hanging on here. meanwhile, for the americas, looking at the tropical storm maria here. it has now strengthened into a hurricane, category one hurricane. but further strengthening is possible just a little more. as it aims for the eastern tip of canada here in newfoundland, it could make landfall over avalon peninsula. warnings and watches are issued. things getting stormy late

thursday into friday. you want to watch for that. the u.s. will look largely unsettled thanks to a long frontal system here. looking at scattered showers across much of the country. as for the highs still on the cool side, especially the northeast. new york drops into the teens. we have 15 in toronto. 20 degrees in d.c. and oklahoma city still going to be on the cool side. and lastly, a look at europe for the scandinavian peninsula, dryer conditions are coming in. rain lingering on the coastline, that is headed out tonight. meanwhile, more rain comes in off the west. france as well as the eye beerian peninsula, showers and widespread rain moving into the british isles. highs friday, 15 in moscow, 17 degrees in warsaw, 18 in kiev. looking cooler here out east. all right. that's a look at your weather forecast. here is the three day outlook.

that's it for "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us. our three picks of the we can start with the finest documentaries. there are three areas that are known to generate major earthquakes. if all three rupture together, what kind of mega quake should the country expect. we will look into predictable outcomes of the tsunami and counter measures that can be

taken. next, we'll highlight a community in the disaster zone devastated by the historic quake. every summer, traditional festivals are held in japan to console the spirits of people's ancestors. in a city wiped out by the huge tsunami, survivors gather for this festival once again to honor their lost loved ones. and last, kampai, introducing traditional drinks to foreign visitors. learn about shochu made from rice or other grains. we visit the home of this in japan. find out how