. nuclear challenge. japan set to announce a major step in bringing the fukushima daiichi plant under control. the government of japan is set to pass a milestone on its road to recovery. the japanese prime minister yoshihiko noda is expected to announce during the day that the tripled reactors are in a state of cold shut down. the government and tepco have been working for months to bring

the plant under control. government officials say the plant meets requirements for cold shut down and they can declare the second phase of the operation is complete. they say temperatures inside the containment vessels interest dropped below 100 degrees celsius. radiation levels at the perimeter of the compound remain below one millisievert per year. now the government plans to look at the area after the zept. the operator of the crippled fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant has decided not to release decontaminated water into the ocean for the time being. tokyo electric power company or tepco is in the process of decontaminating radioactive water amassed in the basements of the reactor buildings. the water is then being recycled as coolant for the reactors, but underground water continues to flow into the basements. the amount of decontaminated water is exceeding the initial estimates.

currently, tepco is storing the treated water in tanks on the plant's premises. tepco had been considering discharging the treated water into the sea, but after protests from a national association of fisheries cooperatives, it has postponed the decision. tepco announced on thursday that it will not release water into the sea until it implements three measures. these include blocking underground water from entering the basements, also improving and stabilizing decontamination equipment and increasing the number of storage tanks. >> translator: we will definitely take the three steps and fully brief the national fisheries association and local fishermen on our plan to deal with the decontaminated water. >> tepco also says it will no the release water into the ocean without approval from relevant offices, including the fisheries ministry.

>> people who used to live around the fukushima daiichi power plant worry about how much radiation touched them and how much touched their families. local government officials have released their estimates. they calculated exposure levels for four months, starting march 12th, the day after the nuclear accident. they looked at patterns of behavior, where people lived, how long they stayed. exposure nearly half the scenarios fell below one millisievert, the government's recommended limit. researchers calculated higher rates for residents of iitate village, up to 19 millisieverts, the benchmark for mandatory evacuation. in this week's "nuclear watch" we're told about the risks and what the government is doing to respond to them. >> these figures are only a model. they are based on patterns of behavior, most people are assumed to have taken so people should not read these levels as meaning some who lived in a

certain area face this much radiation, as a guide to their worries. experts say if exposure levels of 20 millisieverts are unlikely to cause health problems. residents are obviously concerned. take, for example, a woman named ritsuko kano, she and her three children lived in iitate at the time of the accident. they moved into a town hall about a month later and the japanese government asked residents to leave. kano and her family left her home town of fukushima in mid-may. she's worried, like so many others. >> translator: i'm shocked. they must have known about the risks. evacuation steps should have been taken much earlier. >> reporter: she and others believe the government should have done more to protect them.

government officials should review whether they took the right steps. the estimates provide them with some guidelines and again, they're just estimates. they help to answer the question, people in fukushima and elsewhere have been asking all along, how much exposure did they face? the local government has been conducting health checks on many residents. they are not done by any means. the government officials need to estimate the radiation level each resident exposed to as soon as possible. >> that was nhk world's junya yabuchi. "newsline" is the place to turn to for the latest on japan post-march 11th. we have two segments offering two unique perspectives on the fallout from the earthquake and tsunami. "nuclear watch" brings you insight and information on the impact of 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." in other news on "newsline," russia declared support for eurozone nations. >> looks like russia will provide funds to some countries and looks like they're going to do this through the international monetary fund or imf. russian president made the announcement after two days of talks in brussels with eu officials. he said 41% of the foreign reserves are in the euro. he says it is important for russia that european countries overcome their difficulties and protect the euro. he stopped short of revealing the scale of support, but several media report an adviser

to the president said maximum $20 billion will be provided. on friday last week, eu leaders agreed at the summit to provide a maximum 200 billion euros in loans to the imf. hoping to draw funds from countries outside the eu, including emerging economies. on wall street, the dow-jones average snapped three days of losses due to encouraging economic data on jobs and manufacturing. to see how things are kicking off in japan, let's cross-over to ramin mellegard at the koch tokyo stock exchange. ramin, good morning. how are the tokyo stocks looking this morning? >> good morning, ai. after the weekly jobs numbers, you mentioned, and federal reserve of philadelphia, regional manufacturing data came out better than the market consensus. that was a bit of a boost. in europe, a spanish bond auction, provided positive sentiment.

european debt worries still weigh on markets. let's look at the opening levels in japan this friday morning. you can see there the nikkei and topix trading higher. the nikkei has been down around 270 points in the last three trading sessions. a big part due to jitters in europe. having a look there, you can see on the screen, 77.82-83 dollar yen. euro yen, 101.36-41. euro is weaker against the yen. we saw that playing into some of the business sentiment survey reports that came out yesterday, and a lot of large manufacturers pegging down the rates. that compares to 81 in september. we are trading upper 77 yen

level. that plays into what large manufacturers and exporters have to deal with in japan. ai? >> a strong yen, certainly a big issue for us in japan. also not a day goes by without some reports about olympus. what's the latest on that? >> we have been keeping track of that all week. december 14th was that deadline for it to supply its july to september earnings, and the stock was down around 20% yesterday. again, a lot of volatile trading for olympus up monday and tuesday, then down 20% thursday, and we did have former ceo michael woodford at a news conference saying he wants to avoid proxy fight or management control fight, he sees a realistic chance of winning one. a lot of questions and anxiety for investors. amongst those, dividend payments in the fall accounting period of olympus. that's one account to be looked

at. tokyo stock exchange is keeping a close eye on olympus in the coming weeks. nikkei and topix in the positive. >> i am going to continue with the michael woodford conference. he expressed frustration with the current president is mounting. woodford thinks everyone on the board should resign. >> translator: we already dismissed the executives who were clearly implicated in the scandal. >> woodford responded a few hours later with repeated criticisms. >> mr. takayama, he was on the board which approved the purchase of the mickey mouse companies for $800 million. he was on the board which approved the $700 million in fees to unknown parties for no work and pay it through the cayman islands. he is responsible.

>> olympus fired michael woodford in october for questioning accounting practices. investigators started pouring over the optical equipment maker's books immediately. executives admit olympus hid more than $1 billion in investment loss it is wracked up in the 1990s. they papered over those losses for more than a decade. earlier, michio kijima spoke to nhk reporter kaori nagao about the scandal. >> woodford came out swinging at current president takayama. what points did he make? >> woodford is angry with takayama because earlier this month takayama said the entire board of directors will be renewed as part of the process to fix the company. woodford said olympus needs a clean slate, otherwise the company would lose the crucial financial support. >> this story, if it's not ended in the right way, if takayama

can dictate the next management of this company can survive, then, and it won't be me saying this, this will be shareholders overseas, large institutional shareholders, reputable firms, not hedge funds, long-term investors, long-term investors, it will scare them away for good. >> woodford is the whistle-blower on olympus. now, he seems to be fashioning himself as a savior. where does his fight go from here? >> despite his harsh word for takayama, woodford says he is willing to talk and meet with this current olympus president. he wants to help shape the new board of directors. right now, takayama is refusing to meet woodford, and woodford says, if they can't talk it out, he will launch a proxy fight. that means he will go straight to investors and shareholders to game their support and pit them against the board. >> all right, nhk world's

kaori nagao reporting for us tonight, thank you. appreciate it. tokyo nikkei is down 20% this year as we wrap up 2011. it is time to look ahead. i spoke with the head of japan's strategy at jeffreys on what she expects for the coming year. >> better year for the nikkei than this year, given the recovery elsewhere is going to be relatively slow, i think investors are going to be a little tentative to return to the marketplace. the positive thing for japan is that it is very undervalued now. after the quake, japan underperformed and never really rebounded to any considerable extent. maybe that decreasing correlation is actually going to help it. >> what about the question of corporate governance in japan. it has been making headlines all throughout 2011. what are foreign investors' view on japanese firms? >> expectations were fairly low,

so when these scandals emerged, i mean, it would probably be a little optimistic to say they were expected or priced in, but i think the response we got from investors was more "i told you so" rather than a complete shock. >> fink is not even phased by the strong yen, something japanese stocks tend to be sensitive to. the u.s. dollar slumped to a historical low against the japanese currency in late october. japanese authorities unilaterally intervened, but the yen still remains strong today. >> i just don't see the yen on a trend to weaken until conditions improve in the u.s., such that the fed will withdraw liquidity. the fed said it is going to keep the consider accommodation in

place until 2013. when you see the domestic demand theme emerging next year, i don't think we should really narrow our focus to those sectors where earnings and prices are extremely sensitive to the yen. we have a stimulus package for 2011, fiscal 2011, most of which has not yet been enacted. it totals 18.2 trillion yen. there's more in the works. that 18 trillion yen is 4% japanese gdp. it would be an error to overlook a stimulus package that large and actually likely to be dispatched. let's see how the markets are doing this morning.

that's all for now from business. back to catherine. in other news we're following here on "newsline," the united states and north korea agreed to continue on friday talks on the resumption of u.s. food aid. the u.s. has suspended the assistance for more than two years. u.s. special envoy for north korean human rights issues robert king met north korea's director-general or american affairs, li gun in beijing on thursday. in return for restarting food aid, the united states reportedly called on the country to let them monitor distribution of the supplies so they would not be diverted to north korea's military. north korea has been asking the united states to resume the aid. the u.s. side is looking for

specific steps by the north toward denuclearization. the steps include halting uranium enrichment and accepting inspectors from the international atomic energy agency. after the two-hour meeting, king told reporters that the two sides will continue their discussions on friday. the question now is whether the current discussions will lead to another round of direct talks between the two countries on north korea's nuclear program. south korea and china are seeking a diplomatic solution to a dispute over illegal fishing. senior officials plan to hold regular talks to try to resolve the matter. the south korean coast guard boarded a chinese fishing boat earlier this week in its exclusive economic zone. the boat's captain stabbed officers killing one and injuring another. south korea loosened restrictions on officers, allowing them to shoot in self-defense. before the stabbing, south korea has been pressuring china to tighten checks on fishermen.

in other news, china says it will send a high-ranking official to an international conference in myanmar next week. the move is seen as a response to the growing involvement of the united states in the country. chinese foreign spokesperson liu weiwen said china will dispatch dai bingguo to the region. it will be held in naypyidaw on tuesday. china has a long history of friendly relations with the country. dai is expected to hold meetings with the leaders of myanmar's government. >> translator: china hopes to boost public interest. our relationship will be based on mutual respect and no interference in domestic affairs.

russian prime minister vladimir putin says he will not bow to demands that he review the results of parliamentary elections earlier this month. in an annual call-in television show on thursday, putin dismissed vote-rigging claims. putin mocked his critics by offering them the opportunity to install web cameras at each of russia's 90,000 polling stations. such a task would be extremely difficult. he attempted to turn last weekend's massive protest rally in moscow to his advantage, saying he was glad to see young people expressing their opinions loudly thanks to his leadership. putin's remarks could provoke further dissension. opposition forces are calling for another massive rally on saturday. japan is to join a u.n. peacekeeping operation in south sudan. an engineering unit of the ground self-defense force will land in the newly founded african nation early in the new year. they'll help build roads, ports and other infrastructure.

troops for the mission received a briefing on thursday. nhk world's daisuke miyashita kicks off the story. >> reporter: here the members are learning about south sudan, they are willing to participate in the u.n. peacekeeping operations there. >> 300 members of the country attended the briefing at a base in itsunomiya, north of tokyo. the first party of 200 members is to leave for the country in mid-january. sanitary conditions in south sudan are said to be extremely poor with almost no water or sewage systems. instructors ordered the personnel to take extra care against infectious disease. they were advised not to drink untreated water or eat raw vegetables. and to receive shots for malaria which can be caused by mosquito bites. >> translator: every member of a peacekeeping unit is expected to play an important role. i want to make sure no one gets sick and has to be taken off duty.

western europe and southeast asia are seeing stormy conditions. >> hello, welcome to your weather update. let's look at what's happening across east asia. let's first about tropical storm washi. washi is situated east of the philippines, packing winds of 65 kilometers per hour, moving at a speed of 30 kilometers per hour. it's expected to make landfall in mindanao this afternoon and head out to sea and continue to move westward over the waters. the southern philippines are already feeling the impact of the storm with heavy rain as well as strong winds and rough sea conditions will be a big concern as the system approaches and it seems it will maintain

its strength as a tropical storm into the next week, so we'll keep you posted on its progress. meanwhile, a large high pressure system is in control over china, bringing chilly and dry weather across most of the nation, but the exception is this inland area, you may see showers developing over the course of today here, and very strong winds are prevailing across the korean peninsula, as well as the western side of japan, creating sea-effect snow. in japan, blowing snow conditions are occurring across hokkaido, the tohoku and hokuriku areas and hokuriku could see heavy snow, an additional 50 centimeters or more are possible in the next 24 hours and conditions will likely continue into saturday here and again, winds are very strong so that is causing very high waves along the coast here, but it's a different story for the opposite side of the country, it will remain very dry across the pacific side of japan. we are expecting 13 in tokyo, but in seoul, dipping to the freezing mark, minus 3, and 6 in

shanghai, and across bangkok, we're expecting 30 degrees. heading over to the americas, it's dry across the west, but still wet in the east. a low pressure system is bringing showers across eastern canada, and the northeastern states and some lake-effect snow is possible across the eastern side of the great lakes, but that will ease in the next 24 hours in most areas, and across the south, showers are still lingering across the southern u.s., but oklahoma and texas should get drier on friday. and across the west, another round of coastal rain as well as mountain snow is moving into british columbia. temperatures are looking like this, we're expecting 6 degrees in vancouver and 8 in seattle, and dipping down into the single digits in chicago, with 2 in toronto and slightly warmer than average in new york and washington, d.c.

finally, let's go over to europe, western europe is still bracing for the impact of another powerful low pressure system, it's producing very heavy rain, strong winds, as well as severe thunderstorms across the southern british isles, and western continental europe. the system will move eastward and affect most of european countries in the next 24 hours. temperature wise we're expecting 4 degrees in london and 11 degrees in madrid. all right, i will leave you now with your extended forecast. clear

our lead story this hour, the government of japan about to set a milestone on the road to recovery. prime minister yoshihiko noda is expected to announce that the crippled reactors are in a state of cold shut down. the government and tokyo electric power company have been working for months to bring the

plant under control. government officials say the plant meets requirements for cold shut down, and they can declare the second phase of their operation is complete. they say temperatures at the bottoms of reactor pressure vessels and inside containment vessels dropped below 100 degrees celsius. radiation levels at the perimeter of the compound remain low, below one millisievert per year. now the government plans to review the no go zones and evacuation areas set up after the accident. the operator of the plant decided not to release decontaminated water into the ocean for the time being. tepco is in the process of decontaminating radioactive water amassed in the basements of the reactor buildings. the water is then being recycled as coolant for the reactors, but underground water continues to flow into the basements. the amount of decontaminated water is exceeding the initial estimates. currently, tepco is storing the treated water in tanks on the

plant's premises. tepco had been considering discharging the treated water into the sea, but after protests from a national association of eries cooperatives, it has postponed the decision. tepco announced on thursday that it will not release water into the sea until it implements three measures. these include blocking underground water from entering the basements, also improving and stabilizing decontamination equipment and increasing the number of storage tanks. >> translator: we will definitely take the three steps and fully brief the national fisheries association and local fishermen on our plan to deal with the decontaminated water. >> tepco also says it will not release water into the ocean without approval from relevant offices, including the fisheries

ministry. and that's all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. tokyo. thanks for joining us. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com