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tv   Newsline  PBS  July 14, 2011 7:00pm-7:30pm PDT

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glad to have you on this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi. the operator of the crippled fukushima plant is attempting to bring it under control by the number three containment vessel, but a long road is aheadue to the wastewater system. the tokyo electric power company started the injection on thursday evening to prevent a hydrogen explosion. they began at the number one and two reactors, but the work at number three was delayed due to
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high radiation levels. adding to concerns is the french-made device to recycle radioactive wastewater. it continues to work below capacity. the cooling system is meant to decontaminate wastewater and send it back into the reactors as coolant. the utility plans to turn it back to a utility in august. >> the no entry zone around the meant won't be allowed home until there is a planned shut down. they made the announcement at a committee meading on thursday. i know that evacuees from the no entry zone are eager to return home. it is a sensitive issue, but the appropriate time would be after the completion of a cold shut down at the reactors
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. >> the plant's operator plans to complete the sut down by this year or beginning of next year. they plan to start preparations like radiation monitoring, decontamination and infrastructure construction in the evacuation zone after next week. radioactive cesium far exceeding the safe limits has been detected in hay fed to cattle at a second farm near the damaged nuclear plant. >> translator: hay with a high level of radioactive cesium was fed to cattle at the farm. 42 of them were sent to meat processing plants. >> the finding came during inspections ordered by the prefecture after a large dose of the radioactive substance was found in hay at the first farm.
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the latest checks uncovered up to 97,000 bequerels, 73 times the safe limit. the cattle were sent to four plants on april 8th and july sixth. 14 to yokohama, 13 to tokyo, 10 to sendai and to chiba. it provided detailed information to the relevant municipalities asking to trace the tranles of the beef from the cattle. the prefecture said the hay was collected in a city about 80 kilometers southwest of the power plant. the hay had been left outdoors for at least four days after the march 11th disaster. a farm next to it bought the hay in early april and used it for cattle feed
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ime for nuclear watch with the latest at the plant. it's been four months since the disaster. now the japanese government came up with a plan, a two-stage stress test to improve the safety of the nuclear power plant to reassure the public. the stress tests are a set of additional safety criteria aimed to discover weak points of machinery and facilities by putting them under extreme load. the computer simulations will measure what will happen if plants are hit by a massive earthquake, tsunami or other incidents such as a plane crash. they will not say how long it will take under long-term power failure. they will cover plants to make sure there generator trucks or
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power plants nearby in case of an external power source failure. they will also evaluate events like a lack of a water source which is necessary to cool the reactors. the two-stage plan will be used to restart or halt operations of all nuclear power facilities in japan. some hosting the plants say they are puzzled by the central government's decision. >> translator: we are introducing an assessment based on new procedures and rules on top of theramework for ensuring safety. >> the first step is to decide whether or not to restart currently idled reactors. they will see if they are capable of handling unexpected events like long-term power failure. then all reactors will undergo a second stage safety review to assess whether they should keep operating. the second set will follow tests adopted in the european union
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and incorporate investigations into the nuclear accident. the key to the new plan is the approval by the nuclear safety commission and independent nuclear watch dog. this will be conducted by the electric power companies and the results will be confirmed by the nuclear and industrial safety agency and finally approved by the nuclear safety commission. some local governments say they feel that the central government's decision to carry out the safety plan was abrupt and unclear. >> i'm in favor of the stress tests. the government could have announced it sooner. >> i haven't heard details or explanations yet. it's hard to say if the assessment will be adequate >> detailed procedures for the stress tests are yet to be finalized. earlier we looked at nhk world and we will bring you his
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announcement. >> translator: the central government announced a new plan that municipalities hosting the nuclear power plants are puzzled by the lack of details. could you tell us more about the plan? >> nuclear power plans are designed to meet standards based on legal requirements. the more personality the equipment, the more robust the design, giving the development an extra cushion of safety. the stress test is a computer simulation of bigger than expected earthquakes and tsunamis to calculate that into a number of how much time there is before the fuel starts to melt. this supposedly will reveal each plant's vulnerability and improve their safety. what's making it complicated is the two stages of the test. municipalities with power plants say the difference is hard to understand and they are not
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convinced that the first stage is a guarantee of safety. the reason for the two stages is because of the compromise between the ministry of economy who wants to restart power plants as soon as possible and said the measures make the plants and the prime minister who maintains the nuclear and industrial safety agency's decision is insufficient requiring more safety evaluations. >> what are do you mean by a the omise? accident, the government directed power companies to keep power trucks on properties as well as drills to prevent ride jen explosions and heavy machinery to remove rubble. after th counter measures were taken, they had declared the power plants to be safe. kan had earlier said he was in agreement. when he needed to be the 1 to request that the power plant
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had a start, he changed his mind and announced that more action was necessary than the time-consuming stress test. this was basically a disagreement between the prime minister and the minster. in the end, chief cabinet secretary intervened in order for both men to save face and stay on track to be able to quickly resume nuclear power plant operations the test will have two stages the sample first evaluation and the indepth second evaluation. >> translator: the nuclear safety commission will be involved in deciding whether to restart or halt operations of nuclear plants. how will the swagds change? >> according to the current law, the nuclear and safety agency allow can determine when they can resume. the prime minister strongly wanted the nuclear safety
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commission to be involved. the power pumps are overseen by the nuclear and industrial safety agencio in a way the agency is behind this accident. therefore a decision made by the agency might note be supported by the public. the safety commission is an independent group of experts to provide input on the items and method. however following the accident, they initially did not act proactively or provide advice so there is criticism that the safety commissions did not play their role. in europe, stress test results are shared between countries. to make the stress test more meaningful, japan should look to expert evaluations from overseas
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in addition to the safety commission and study objective evaluation methods. >> thank you. >> that was an nhk commentator. >> electric power company post tone poned a plan to introduce recycled fuel at a reactor in western japan. it is likely to affect the so-called thermal project, the pillar of the recycling policy. they said a lack of local understanding means it cannot proceed with feeding the number four reactor of the plant with plutonium and uranium mixed or fuel. it is vital for the utility to proceed with the plan to use the fuel in regular check ups on july 21st. it came after the mayor of the town made clear his opposition
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to the plan. >> translator: the current government is not giving clear messages on nuclear recycling policy, so we can't see any good reason why the reactor needs the fuel. >> the number four reactor was set to become the fifth in japan to introduce repsyched nuclear fuel after the company began using the number three reactor of the plant in january. the plant's number three reactor, the only working reactor using the fuel in japan is scheduled to be suspended for regular check ups early next year. three other power plants that were already using the fuel are not currently operating. >> "newsline" is the place to turn to for news about japan post march 11th. we have perspective on the
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fallout from the earthquake and tsunami. nuclear watch brings insight on the impact of the crisis. and the road ahead examines efforts to recover and rebuild. don't miss nuclear watch and the road ahead on "newsline" . >> now take a look at the latest in business news. good morning >> good morning. let's start off with a look at the euro zone. leaders decided to postpone an emergency meeting schedule forward friday. the main focus of the dialogue is an extra rescue plant for greece. last monday, the finance minsters of the 17 nations met and discussed a second bailout package for greece that suffers from massive debt. they failed to reach an agreement over how private sector banks holding greek bonds should be involved in the bailout. although debt concerns are spreading to other countries, the leaders are unlikely to reach an agreement on a rescue
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package. on thursday, the plan was said to be a precondition for holding the meeting. a meeting would not get rid of credit uncertainties a spokesperson said the date for the meeting is expected to be announced soon let's check on the markets. the dow fell into the negative after they sound cautious after a near term stimulus. for more we go to the tokyo stock exchange. how are things kicking off? >> a mixed opening for the nikkei, dipping in and out of positive and negative and currently both indeces in the negative, but were trading in the positive a few minutes ago. a bit of a mixed open here. we were checking the markets in the u.s. and after fed chairman bernanke's comments as well as ongoing talks and the ongoing debate over the debt ceiling
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overshadowed markets somewhat after earnings results which proved a little bit positive and economic data that proved positive that supported the dow. the dow and the nasdaq ending lower after the chairman's second day of testimony to congress it was not at this point ready to assist in any new asset buying to boost the economy that pretty much went against what he alluded to the day before which had supported markets. this time it came on the back of strong results of jpmorgan. google came out after the market and after hours trading. google is shooting up by around 10%. we will see how markets react to that here as well. there was positive economic
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data. we saw fall and weekly jobless claims and a rise in retail sales for the u.s. here in japan the main factor which has pushed the nikkei below the level that broke above last week has been the stronger yen. having a look at that, currently at the lower 79 levels and around the upper 111 to lower 112 levels against the euro, so far during tokyo's stock trading hours. the nikkei is below 10,000 for three straight trading sessions and monday will be a public holiday hoar in japan. we will see the reaction on tuesday. for now, a bit of a mixed picture. the nikkei in the positive. >> see you again on tuesday. thanks a lot that was the tokyo stock exchange. we are one step away from seeing the world's largest alliance for trading stocks and other
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financial products. paradors of the new york stock exchange announced they obtained shareholder approval for a merger. they need clearance from the antitrust authorities in the u.s. and europe. they announced on thursday it gained backing of over 80% of the shareholders. that exceeds the 75% threshold needed for approval. nyse, the owner of the new york stock exchange obtained the go ahead at a meeting last week. the german side will hold the stake and the rest will be held by the new york side. the two will be in merger talks that become more competitive and to handle a wider change of products. a lower house session on thursday began deliberating a bill compelling power companies to purchase solar, wind, and other forms of renewable engineer from the next fiscal year. the japanese government is
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considering prices and time frames for utilities to purchase such renewable engineers they would buy solar power from private residences in the 45 cent per kilowatt range and others at about 25 cents per kilowatt. the government is considering a compulsory purchasing period of 10 years for residential solar power. around 15 years for other natural energies. renewable energy is more expensive and the bill is aimed at making it profitable for the al termative energy operators now a recap of the latest market figures
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that's all for this hour back to catherine. >> adopting a resolution supporting efforts to support harassment by the anti-whaling group, sea shepherd. they proposed resolution and was adopted on thursday. the final day of the iwc's four-day meeting in the british channel islands. the resolution was the first of its kind naming sea shepherd. the group's instructed activities forced japan to suspend the research whaling in february. the countries discussed the current stalemate between pro and anti-whaling nations that is preventing them from making decisions on important issues.
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the country only confirms they will continue discussions on the matter. the united states has begun withdrawing troops from afghanistan as part of barack obama exit strategy. more than 100,000 troops have been stationed in the country. obama announced he will withdraw 33,000 by september 2012. that was group, 10,000 will leave by the end of this year. a ceremony to mark the transfer of authority was held at the air field north of kabul on wednesday the 650 members of the iowa national guard were chosen as the first unit to leave afghanistan they left on thursday. the withdrawal was the first step towards ending the u.s.-led war that followed the 2001 terrorist attacks on the united states. the taliban is increasing offensives and the security situation remains volatile. over a few months, the military
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withdrawal is expected to be small scale . >> welcome back to the weather update. we are keeping an eye on this cluster of clouds here in the pacific. looking very well formed now. this will be the one with us for this whole week on a strengthening track. it is a long and strong typhoon westward at 20 kilometers. it has been keeping the pace. the maximum gusts are reaching 200 kilometers per hour or more. this is a powerful system. forecasts will continue to mostly track for a couple more days and start veering and turning and trends towards japan. things will get stormy here. it's a large tropical storm force wins over a large area.
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the islands could be feeling the stormy weather as we head into the weekend. definitely a storm to keep an eye on. elsewhere, we are looking at the stubborn frontal boundary in place across the peninsula and into japan. it is on the way out. we should be seeing the heavy rain that has been impacting the peninsula and moving out and in towards the north. this area has been seeing a lot of rain this week. dale rainfall amounts have been ending with 50 millimeters. definitely well-saturate and that will up the risk of flooding and land slights. scattered showers along the area. the low towards the southeast too. things could intensify at times. it may get stronger in part was indo china as well. for the north, looking not too bad temperature-wise. 25 in seoul.
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30 for beijing and 28. things are heating up in japan. tokyo at 34. sendai is well above average at 33. very, very warm conditions here. now towards the americas, scattered showers and thunderstorms for the southern area into mexico and the gulf coast states. tropical moisture and a severe weather along the two lows through concern canada and the upper rockies and northern plains. a chance of thunderstorms tonight. as for temperatures, stays hot for the mid-section. up to 36 degrees in houston. finally a look at europe. the stormy weather has been impacting the low countries. tonight with the low heading out. just a little bit longer. we will be using the stormy weather in denmark and into the scandinavian peninsula. the frontal line from the system will continue to bring a round
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of showers here through eastern europe and it moves through. it will bring the stormy weather and you might want to watch out for the thunderstorms. british aisles should stay dry tonight. showers as you head into friday. as for highs here, 25 degrees for london. not too bad. bell great heating up to 38 for athens. that's a look at the weather for now. here's the three-day outlook
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the lead story, the operator of fukushima is looking to bring it under control by injecting nitrogen into the containment vessel. there is a long road ahead due to the wastewater system. the tokyo power company started on thursday to prevent a hydrogen explosion. they had begun at the plant's number one and two reactors, but the work at number three was delayed due to high levels. adding to concerns is the french-made device for radioactive wastewater working below target capacity. the cooling system is meant to decontaminate water and send it back into the reactors as coolants. the plants plan to introduce a
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device as an alternative in august. the nuclear crisis minster said evacuees from the no entry zone won't be allowed home until there is a cold shut down of the crippled reactors they made the announcement on thursday >> translator: i know that u vacuees from the no entry zone are eager to return home. the appropriate time is after a shut down at the reactors # >> he said the government plans to start preparations like radiation monitoring, decontamination and infrastructure construction after next week.
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>> we leave you with children enjoying summer gifts. they help the children to beat the searing heat an agriculture cooperative in western japan sent 17 watermelons to a school in miyagi prefecture on thursday. the city was devastated by the march 11th earthquake and tsunami the town lost one of the schools to the tsunami. the students now share classes at the nearby school where only the first floor was flooded >> nice to see the children smiling there. that wraps up this edition of "newsline." thanks for joining us
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