fukushima fallout. a new report slams the government for misleading the public and nuclear authorities for being unsafe and unprepared. welcome to nhk world "newsline." it took only hours for fukushima to spiral out of control after the march 2011 earthquake and tsunami. it's taken many months for experts to figure out what went wrong before, during and after the disaster. a panel released the fourth and final high-profile report into the accident. it criticizes nuclear regulators and the plant's operator, tokyo electric power company.

it says the government misled the public. a 12-member panel submitted its report to prime minister yoshihiko noda. the experts launched investigation into june of last year interviewed more than 770 people, including government officials, tepco employees, and residents who fled their homes to avoid radiation exposure. the experts conclude regulator s are at the nuclear and industrial safety agency were overconfident in the ability of plants in japan to withstand a severe accident. they say they lacked sufficient expertise and tended to focus on specific problems instead of designing comprehensive safety regulations. the report says the government didn't follow established crisis management procedures but points out officials failed to make the right decisions because they spent too much time concentrating on micromanaging the response on the ground. the experts also looked at how government leaders handled information as the crisis worsened. they say officials actively deny

the possibility of reactor meltdowns and misled the public. the report singles out tepco for failing to take sufficient preventative measures. the experts say tepco executives lacked the will to thoroughly investigate the causes of the accident. the head of the expert panel says the probe into what went wrong at fukushima daiichi and what's going on the nuclear plant needs to continue. >> translator: we said the investigation must carry on, because the accident is still ongoing. we can't believe an investigation that requires observation for a long period of time should be thrown to its end. >> prime minister noda says japan's nuclear industry is

safer than it was before march 2011. >> translator: with the newly launched nuclear safety commission, we will make every effort to ensure an accident of this kind will never happen again. >> people who fled the towns and cities around fukushima daiichi aren't happy the government has wrapped up its investigation into what went wrong at the nuclear plant. the threat of radiation is still keeping thousands of residents away from their homes. >> translator: i can't believe they're finalizing the investigations. i don't want them to stop. >> translator: i cannot return home because of the accident so the government needs to clarify how it happened. >> read through this over 800-page report which you brought to the desk today.

that's quite a big piece of literature there. now, the government misled the public. what did the panel use to back up their conclusion? >> a day after the accident a spokesperson for the nuclear regulatory agency said he couldn't deny the possibility of a meltdown, but the agency changes wording immediately after the prime minister's office asked to preapprove any statements about the accident. >> okay. >> and during the weeks that followed, the word meltdown just disappeared from the briefings. in fact, the agency spokesperson denied meltdown had even happened. ultimately, it took three month for authorities to admit a triple meltdown had occurred at fukushima. this raises the possibility of a government coverup. the panel also says, government officials failed to disclose

important information on the spread of radioactive materials. they had data from forecasting system but they didn't pass the information on to local authorities and as a result, many evacuees were unnecessarily exposed to radiation. >> tell us a little bit more about what experts say led to the actual accident in fukushima. >> all right. the report is similar to the result of the investigation by the diet appointed panel, which came out earlier. it criticizes the government and tepco for their poor preparation and response to the accident. one point that stands out in particular japan's failure to enforce global standard recommended by the iaea. the authors mention how the regulatory agency refused in 2006 to upgrade evacuation

preparedness measures because they feared it would frighten the public. regulators justified their decision at the time by saying, a massive release of radioactive particles was a remote possibility. >> what kind of effect could this report have on the ongoing debate over nuclear energy in japan? >> right. we have 50 reactors in japan and 48 reactors remain shut down. they need to pass new tests before operators can fire them up again. the chairman of the committee declined to comment on the government decision to restart two units at the ohi facility. but the reports stress that, despite the scope of their investigation, they still know very little about the root causes of the fukushima accident, along with the health and environmental implications. so this conclusion could raise questions for the public regarding the ability of the government and nuclear authorities to promptly assess

whether reactors should be restarted. >> all right. thanks for that. violence in eastern baghdad, a car exploded on monday morning. the blast wound 31. several explosions occurred in the northern province a group fired kills 14 soldiers. attacks appeared to have been coordinated as they all happened during a short period on monday morning. security in iraq has been deteriorating. j

from january to june attacks killed 20,0 thou2000 people. >> on july 23rd, 2011, one high-speed train crashed into another. v investigators quickly dug it up after criticism erupted on the internet. on monday you canp hardly tell this is where the accident occurred.

when the site here on the first anniversary, you might ask what happened. >> i'm here to express my condolences as a citizen of china. no official memorial services were held to mark the day. the trains were left at a nearby station for a year. >> the train lines were suspended throughout china after the accident. a chinese report said the accident was a result of a number of human ever rorrors. the chinese suggests the

government wants people to forget about it to prevent another way of criticism. but criticism of the government has appeared on chinese internet bulletin boards. this could mean the chinese government is trying to build trust. nhk world. china. >> american military personnel are getting ready to run checks on a chinese aircraft that is stirring up debate. a fleet of osprey mv-22 stationed in yamaguchi prefecture. people nearby are worried about the safety record. a cargo ship arrived monday. military personnel spent much of the day unloading the tilt rotor aircraft. they're going to carry out maintenance before conducting trial flights. american authorities plan to start flying the aircraft in

october in okinawa, where two-thirds of u.s. bases in japan are concentrated. residents are worried about safety after two recent crashes involving osprey, one happened in april and morocco, the other in june in florida. u.s. government spokespersons say the osprey won't operate in japan until the aircraft's safety is assured. a group of demonstrators gathered near the iwakuni base to protest against the osprey development. they want the central government to stop the u.s. military from using aircraft in japan. so why is the u.s. sticking to its plan to deploy the osprey in okinawa? >> it puts the strategy on asia where chinese is building up

it's military. the u.s. government plans to spread marines across the region to keep the chinese in check. c c comcompared to the ch 46 helicopter, the aircraft can fly twice as fast and the range is five times longer. prime minister's government is onboard with the osprey deployment. his officials say the aircraft is necessary to detain deterrents there. >> can you tell us about how the japanese are reacting to noda is on this now? >> the osprey -- the u.s. military is planning to run test flights around the country. but the sentiment is strongest in okinawa.

but the station is in the middle of the busy city. residents don't want the aircraft flying in the skies above them. japanese and u.s. leaders agreed to relocate the bases to the coast al area of okinawa city but they h't come up with a plan and that disappointed many. >> many people are worried about the implementation of this, how are they worried about dealing with the opposition? >> they have ordered them not to conduct tasks until the aircraft safety is verified. it is extremely rare for japan and the u.s. military to make this kind of agreementagreement. the japanese government plans to

send a team of experts to the u.s. to come up with measures to prevent a recurrence. some members of the parties are planning that the deployment be delayed. prime minister is again doing a balancing act. he is trying to show some that he is listening to them. >> okay thank you for that. >> the persistent european debt worries are prompting investors to sell the euro. it sank to the lowest level in 12 years against the yen. the euro is currently trading at

94.67 to 70 against the yen and dollar hit a one and a half month low. the japanese currency is being bought as a relatively safer asset. u.s. dollar now at 78.22 and 27 ticking as we speak. renewed concerned about the debt crisis have grown as the yield on spain's ten-year bond is rising over 7%, that's a level generally considered to be unsustainable. for more about the outlook for the euro, we spoke to the chief foreign exchange strategist at barclays bank. >> euro is likely to slide unless they step into the spanish bond market. we don't expect japanese intervention into the euro market, further decline of the euro-yen should drive down the nikkei and a tougher intervention.

the euro will keep depreciating not because of the concern but also the relative weakness of the euro area fundamentals, we expect the euro dollar will fall towards 115 in one-year time and also the euro-yen, close to all time low of 88. >> let's take a look at the latest market figures.

>> astronauts on the space station are waiting on a cargo ship that shipped out on saturday. >> it was a fast launch from the space station accessible. for getting satellite into space, businesses will be able to explore that technology. the japanese space station on saturday, a astronaut will use robotic arm to use cube sat in september.

>> reporter: on saturday, the rocket carried five cube sats. they are ten centimeter cubes that the satellites pack a lot of scientific power. they are a way for researchers to get the platform in space. students at japanese university, build them. it is called niwaka. officials at the space agency set strict limits on size and weight so the cube set meets international standards. the students had to squeeze a satellite into a liter and make it no heavier than 1 1/3 kilograms. >> translator: we originally used thicker aluminum.

we had to make it much thinner. that was hard work. >> reporter: students have to shave the case down to half of its original thickness just 1 1/2 millimeters. the niwaka will carry out two missions, high l.e.d.s, people will be able to see the signal where the naked eye. >> translator: people have launched hundreds of satellites into space, but this may be the first that emits light. >> reporter: the satellite's mission is an experiment that can revolutionize telecommunication. the niwaka will take photos of the earth and store during the mission. the students in japan, 1 1/2

times faster than current tiny satellite. the student were testing by extracting the satellite to transmit its data. >> translator: only satellites weighing 500 kilos or a ton have been able to handle high speed telecommunications. if a cube set can do that, it will have great commercial value. >> reporter: students can't miss the blastoff. >> translator: what a relief! >> translator: everything

depends on how good a job we do. >> translator: the students designed a lot of the systems on the satellite. i don't want to miss any transmissions from space. >> you are back after witnessing the launch. >> witnessing the launch, you're lucky to see the launch daisuke. there was in the interview one of the professors that made the satellite. where else are the small cubes being developed? >> in a small company designing cube sat as a location in japan. researchers are also developing them in universities in the united states. >> okay. >> officials at nasa plan to launch. scientists in asian countries wanted to develop cube sat and put them in space. when the cube sat on the way to the space station is vietnamese. it can send photos from space.

>> astronauts will launch cube sats from space stations for the first time. why are they using this method? >> satellites carried in space by rocket they have to be tremendously small to survive blastoff. carried to the space station as cargo. they don't need to be so tough. so putting them in space is cheaper. officials at the japanese space agency see big possibilities. >> translator: transfer vehicles regularly deliver supplies to the space station. so we'll have more and more opportunities to launch satellites. >> it was a fast launch from the space station accessible. for getting satellite into space, businesses will be able to explore that technology.

the japanese space station on saturday, a astronaut will use robotic arm to use cube sat in september. >> there is a storm south of japan around hong kong. robert? >> we are still watching our typhoon now. it is moving off towards the northwest and already boo ttyph strength winds already. the hong kong strength observatory, just towards the west as it makes its way towards the northwest. it puts hong kong in the right front quadrant of the storm. and thus, this portion here is

blowing those winds on shore and also about noon time tomorrow, locally here in hong kong is when you are going to be seeing high tides. as this continues to push on shore. but currently though, winds about 120 gusting 180 miles per hour. 260 mms there. not just there but near the coast lines around the provinsand including hong kong here. i will keep you updated here. pulling back here and looking here towards the east. mo moonsoonal flow here, and also off towards the north, northern,

japan localized heavy rain showers. good news this is going to be tapering off, heavy rain showers is going to be setting in. that is going to be bringing fair weather on your tuesday. you had those record rainfall totals on saturday, going back to 1951 here. good news high pressure as well there. temperatures in beijing with the high temperature of 30. as well on your tuesday, wednesday, and thursday that will be getting more summer like. you do not need the heat here, dry conditions. still dominating the region here monsoonal flow. also severe weather in the northwest due to the low pressure here. even the risk of tornados across

the great lakes region. temperaturewise, that heat in the central u.s., chicago at 37. we were talking about the front seattle. in europe, we have this frontal boundary here, that has been bringing that severe weather. towards the south in london, where they are getting ready for the olympics, does look like you are going to be see iing severe weather. temperatures will be into the high 20s and low 30s. we have this cut-off low. it was part of the jet stream. now it is lingering and bringing unstable weather here. and also the heavy rainfall. temperaturewise, though it does stay cool.

>> we will be back with more updates in 30 minutes.

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