this is "newsline" for march 31st, 11:aa.m. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. we're now listening in on the news conference of japan's chief cabinet secretary yukio edano. he'll be giving ugs the latest developments at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant. >> translator: reportedly iaea suggested the japanese government issue an evacuation order. what do you say? >> translator: yes, the iaea has been conducting a soil survey,

and one of the sample readings have exceeded iaea recommended leve levels, and it's been advised to the japanese government that we should take careful decisions based on these sampling results, and they will -- we have been continuing the atmospheric radiation surveys near the site and the iaea sampling results will also be taken into consideration for further detailed monitoring on the part of the japanese government. and as to the radiation levels in soil, this has exceeded the recommended limits.

if the health hazard can develop to humans who stay near the site for prolonged periods of time, but there is no immediate health hazards if the exposure will continue for a prolonged period of time, the impact can occur. we will continue the ongoing survey, so there is no plan at the moment to expand the evacuation area. we do recognize that the radiation levels have been higher than the recommended level and if this situation continues, there can be health risks, so we will take necessary actions, depending on the results of these surveys. >> reporter: according to the

ministry of agriculture, they have announced that they will conduct soil survey near the site, but what about the sampling of the sea water for radiation? >> translator: yes, the radiation has exceeded the recommended limits at the water discharge outlet area. of course, the radiation levels can be diluted, but there should be no health impact, so we will continue monitoring in expanded areas. >> reporter: "review" newspaper. regarding radiation contamination of the soil, there may be adverse effects if people live there for a long time. are there any measures being considered for long-term, for the long-term, like

decontamination? >> translator: first of all, if it is over a long period, which may have adverse effects on the human health, we may have to consider evacuation. that is what we are considering, and regarding this, we are monitoring the levels of radiation in the atmosphere and taking thorough measures so that in the event that such needs should arise, we will not be late in our response. that is what we are thinking. >> reporter: idate village is 4 kilors away homany places arehere this wheia mayazve

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all possible evtuits, and we will try to address all potential evenalie there is no clear indication showing that the criticality can already suggested that the reactor itself has been severely damaged. japan's chief netecry edano there holding news conference. the iaea is monitoring radiation fd and soil in fukushima and theokyo metropolitan area. edano says there is currentlyo ement health hazard currently,

currently no emi health hazard so there's no plan to expand the evacuation area. one repsk aut the radioactive iodine measured in the sea, about 3,355 times above aea the plant on rd was found in tuesday so there may be a possibility that water had come ac water that had come into contact with the core, th rct core, may have seeped into the ocean, but edano says currently they do not know the source of the highly radioactive water leakint thea we will continue to keep you up to date on the situation there at the fukushima daiichi nuclear powepl three weeks have passed since the great east japan earthquake, but workers are still battling to get the fukushima nuclear power plant under control. the biggest problem is the disposal of radioactive water, which is hindering cooling efforts. >> translato t tco chairman says that it will take a long time until the situation

is ultimatelbrghton d. he says that personally, he thinks it would not be possible for the evacuated residents to return home in a few weeks. >> radioactive iodine and cesium ha bn unin in the basement of the turbine buildings of reactors number one to four, an nns tse the buildings. work to pump the contaminated water into the turbine condenser in the buildings came to a halt at the number one reactor after the condenser became full. meanwhile work to pump the water out of the basements of the number two and three reactors has yet to begin. the tokyo electric power company is going to use a synthetic resin to try to prevent radioactive dust from bomg airborne or from being washed into the sea. the company will try to use the resin around the reactor buildings. the ren solidifies and becomes water resistant when it tries. tepco wants to check in it will contain the contamination before

it uses it more widely. >> the head of the french company subsidiary in japan made a pledge in an interview with nhk. >> reporter: somer have is one of the world's largest conglomerates. itsceo arrived together in japan along with experts. the purpose of the visit is to remove the contaminated te >> i'm going to meet the people in charge and assess the situation. >> reporter: areva is based in france, the world's second largest nuclear energy nation. using remote controlled robot, the company has the capability

to access theigy radicte areas. the company is top class in its technology of removing contamination of radiation. the company has a track record of caring out decommissioning of nuclear plants, which have been contaminated. >> it leads to high level lick willeds, high level fluids. >> reporter: the company says it is sending in the protective suits and special vehicles for measuring the radiation level. at present at fukushima daiichi nuclear plant workers are under way to remove contaminated water which has the concentration of 100,000 times the normal level. areva is going to send in five experts.

>> the situation will be improved as we can. again, anything we can do to help that, we will do. we can provide all the areas where we have expertise, which we think can be useful. >> french president nicolas sarkozy will arrive in japan today for talks with prime minister naoto kan. sarkozy is expected to offer more technical assistance to >> the u.n. nuclear watch dog has decided to dispatch marine environment experts to fukushima to analyze sea water surrounding the troubled nuclear power plant. >> the situation remains very serious. it continues to be very serious. iaea is doing everything in por to help japan. >> a meeting of the international atomic energy agency in vienna wednesday

agreed to spend the experts from the marine environmental laboratory in monaco this week. the decision follows a request by the japanese government. the iaea already sent 15 experts to japan to measure radiation levels in the air, food and soil in fukushima and the tokyo metropolitan area. it says it will provide more people as requested by the japanese government to examine the effects of the radiation leak. ai uchida is in studio to give us latest in business news. >> welcome to "newsline" business. tokyo stocks are hovering in a narrow range on thursday morning. investors are holding back from active trading to keep an eye on the impact of the recent disaster on corporate earnings. the nikkei ended the morning session at 9705, nearly unchanged from wednesday's close, with a loss of just 2

points. the key index opened slightly higher following an overnight rise in new york but sell orders later gained the upper hand as uncertainties over the ongoing nuclear crisis weighed down on market sentiment. on the tokyo foreign exchange the dollar is moving in a narrow range against the yen on thursday morning as the market lacks fresh incentives. the greenback is currently trading in the mid 82 level. sources say investors are buying the dollar as they predict the u.s. may end its monetary easing policy earlier than expected but there's also a move among japanese exporters to change their dollars into yen at the end of the business year. here's a look at the latest long-term interest rates, this is the yield on the benchmark ten year japanese government bond. now in other asian markets, hong kong's hang seng is in the

positive, up almost 0.3%, but shanghai and shenzhen in and out of negative territory this thursday, both currently in positive territory. toyota motor says supply chain disruptions in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami are preventing it from resuming full production. on wednesday, toyota decided to postpone restarting output at most factories until friday next week at the earliest. the decision will extend the production halt to nearly a month except at two plants in central and western japan. the automaker restarted the assembly of three hybrid models there on monday. toyota says it's still unable to obtain 500 kinds of parts, including electronic components. the disaster damaged the facilities of many of its suppliers in the northeast. toyota's latest move underscores the serious impact of the disaster on japan's corporate output.

honda motor has announced it's going to reduce vehicle production at its five plants in north america from wednesday. this is due to an expected shortage of car parts from japan. honda says it will cut its daily output of 5,700 vehicles by about 2,000. they're going to do that by shortening the hours of operation. the japanese carmaker brought all of its domestic assembly plants to a halt after some parts suppliers were hit hard by the recent earthquake and tsunami. toyota motor has also reduced production in north america by suspending overtime and work on holidays. demand for bottled water is surging all over japan due to the recent natural disaster. on top of this, concerns linger about the safety of tap water. >> reporter: a beveragemaker in

miyazaki prefecture southern japan is shipping bottled mineral water to convenience stores. since the massive earthquake, orders have risen to nearly four times the usual amount. to meet demand the maker shifted its operating hours from ten hours a day to around the clock and workers are giving up their weekends to continue production. >> translator: we work into the night because we want to make as much as possible. >> reporter: another beveragemaker in the prefecture supplies bottled mineral water to retailers in the kyushu region, southern japan. two days after the quake, the company received an order of 300,000 bottles of water from the government to be shipped to affected areas. >> translator: these are recent orders. >> reporter: orders from the greater tokyo area were up ten-fold. this came after the metropolitan government announced iodine levels in tap water exceeded the legal limit for infants.

the company had stored 700,000 bottles for the upcoming summer season. however, they ran out in just two weeks after the quake. although the plant is operating around the clock, it still cannot meet demand. even if it accepts new orders, products won't be available for shipment for another three weeks. >> translator: by increasing our workforce, we are trying not to inconvenience our regular clients. we will further strengthen our ability to boost production. >> reporter: some makers are stuck at a standstill, unable to run their factories. operations at a beveragemaker in yamanashi prefecture adjacent to tokyo have been shut down for one week, this is due to a shortage of caps for plastic bottles. the plant that supplies the maker suffered serious damage

from the quake and cannot foresee when it can resume operation. the beveragemaker failed to find plants within the country that could meet the urgent need, so it rushed over cap samples from a company in taiwan and then decided to place an order. as soon as the long-awaited 3 million caps arrive next week the beveragemaker will resume full operations. >> translator: it's a tough situation. we know that people in quake-stricken areas are facing water shortages. we'll do our best in resuming operations so that we can supply water to them. here's a recap of the latest market figures.

that's all in business news. hi. welcome to your weather update. we're taking a look at the weather in japan and it's going to be split in half, the southern half looking at lots of sunshine and another warm day for the most part, but in the north, a little bit more unsettled for you. we're looking at changeable weather throughout the day. already this morning hearing of thunderstorms across the northwestern flank and that's going to spread further into the rest of northern japan, so tohoku area, into the kanto region all looking at a pretty unsettled day today.

we're also looking at thunderstorm advisories in effect for a large part of this area thursday, into thursday afternoon that is the likelihood of some sharp showers, downpours and some strong thunderstorms developing, so you do want to watch out for that, it could get a little bit unsettled and stormy. winds, too, will be on the brisk side throughout the day today. mostly coming in from the north, so a little bit of a cooler breeze compared to yesterday. let's get a look at temperatures, and it is right now about 40 degrees in yamagata, and the same in akita, getting almost close to 5 degrees here that is. 4.3 in sendai and 6.2 in fukushima. still looking at single digits this morning, and for parts of northern tohoku area we're going to remain in the single digits. 9 for your high in morioka and 7 is expected in aomori. from sendai to the south looking at double digits here but it's going to feel a little bit cooler than yesterday for sure. tokyo, though, coming in at 16 degrees so you are looking at another warm and spring-like

day. as for the next couple of days, we will be talking about that unsettled weather for thursday for miyako, sendai and even onahama. miyako a chance of flurries or two developing here. highs only at 7 in miako and double digits for sendai and onahama. changes friday, sunshine and highs rise up to 12 in miyako and sendai and 13 in onahama but the morning lows, so the fluctuations you want to watch out for health issues here. all right, that is a look at your weather conditions for now, and here are some other cities across asia.

all right this just coming in to us. japan's nuclear and industrial safety agency says radioactive iodine 4,385 times the safety standard was found in sea water near the troubled fukushima daiichi nuclear plant on wednesday. this was the highest level of the radioactive material measured so far in waters around the plant. on tuesday, the plant operator, tokyo electric power company, detected 3,355 times higher than

the standard. if you're just listening in, this is breaking news, we're finding out that radioactive iodine 4,385 times the safety standard was found in sea water near the troubled daiichi nuclear plant on against. that's what japan's nuclear and industrial agency was saying, this is the highest level of radioactive material measured so far in watered around the plant. earlier nhk reported the plant operator tokyo electric power company reported 3,355 times higher than the standard. we'll keep you posted on details there as they come in. many of our viewers have been asking how they can help. if you would like to make a donation to the people affected by the great east japan earthquake, please check out the japanese red cross society's website at www.jrc.or.jp/english. the address is on your screen there. your donations will help the

people affected by the great east japan earthquake. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks very much for joining us on this edition of "newsline."