fears of a possible nuclear meltdown as a second explosion threatens to wrong japan's of the push to make up more plants it's believed more than ten thousand could have been killed in the devastating earthquake and resulting tsunami. libyan state t.v. or bird's global goods are big gains momentum winning back more territory as international calls grow for him to surrender power. could have his minute advance on eastern libya great meaning there very soon the town of benghazi will for you join me in a few moments for more. also in other news this week boosting its high

powered dancing train the u.s. vice president met russian leaders law position in moscow. a very warm welcome this is our see live from moscow japan is battling to avert a nuclear crisis and fears another blast could hit the fukushima plant of the tsunami hit north i think chills are trying to reduce the risk of a meltdown which could trigger an explosion increasing the danger of a radiation leak the small amounts of radiation have been released to reduce pressure in the reactor it's believed the process poses no health threats on saturday a powerful explosion rocked the facility it was understood to be caused by a failure in the cooling system while the reacted self was unaffected however the

area of twenty kilometers around the facility has been evacuated more than thirty people are confirmed to have been exposed to radiation and a hundred and sixty more is to join them the devastating earthquake which is now. it measured at nine on the richter scale structure two days ago followed by a tsunami and washed away entire villages police fear more than ten thousand people may have died what japan's prime minister says is the worst crisis to hit the country since world war two food fuel and water are running out inside affected towns. or russia's atomic agency says it needs further information about the situation. nuclear plant and us despite close contact with the japanese crisis center meanwhile emergency services are higher in russia's far east region close to northern japan are cizik

of it in the grand jury is in the area. michel's insecure you say that radiation levels remain normal in russia spore is ever since the nuclear power plant in fukushima was hit by an explosion begun wanted to levels closely we can't even check the radiation levels for ourselves this is the so-called geiger counter and this is used in professional saves me called war trays by the emergences ministry and also by other specialized services it measures radiation levels around and it is showing is jumping between two and three micros were our these is way less than the average in moscow for example and also as a comparison a passenger flying out on a plane from moscow to vladivostok receives as many as twenty two microns ferrara which is sampled here in. the capital of these civilians region the russian security services are still on high alert as there are confirmed reports from

visuals in japan that possibility of a nuclear meltdown is very high in fukushima and so experts in russia are now wanted to measure levels of radiation not only in russia but also in the arctic for example they are also saying that even in the worst case scenario the country should be spared any fallout but what i know from in japan and x. x. rays is that a lot depends on the weather the good news is that the weans is now going in the direction of the pacific ocean or black the weather is changeable and things could also quickly if the worst scenario takes place and if there is an explosion inside a reactor. plant that would mean that radiation would be spreading in waves and these region of russia is the closest would be the closest to the epicenter of the nuclear tragedy. where we are now is only six hundred miles away from fukushima and russia's coral islands are some two hundred miles now people of course have been.

morris about the latest news and they've been closely monitoring group was on t.v. in the beginning they were afraid of another natural disaster he's seeing that closed. what they are afraid of now is as about a possibility of radiation contamination and they've been calling emergencies ministry the line is almost always using and trying to find out what preventive measures could be taken and then you told me that as they watch news reports they can't believe their eyes that these disaster scene is unfolding so close in such a vicinity to russia's roots in the beginning of the outset the earthquake and tsunami in japan they were mostly afraid of a natural disaster which could hit the northern coast of russia they are afraid of another tour novel now which could happen close to their home. now moscow is promising to do its best to help take care with the crisis having dealt with the

world's worst nuclear disaster russia has a vital experience in this area and earlier i spoke to our correspondents. here crane and all over in moscow. russian emergencies ministry plane is getting ready to head off to japan. rescue workers they will help with dealing with the fallout from this disaster the sequence of disasters that have that hates japan over the past few days will be helping rescue is seeking for those trapped under rubble from the from the earthquake and also trying to rescue those that have been caught up in the terrible sea nominees. they took they were treated by that earthquake now the nuclear disaster they say conflated fukushima is also taking main focus for russia we heard for me to make our childer there in russia's far east talking about the what's being done there to make sure that it's all ok well one of the name problems that's come from. the probe the disaster if you can nuclear reactor is that thirty

percent of japan's energy is the right from nuclear power now that is severely depleted at the moment as you can imagine due to the situation with that nuclear reactor as well as the air precautions being taken over other reactors in the country so russia has pledged one hundred fifty thousand tons of liquid gas to help the situation there to get power back on said places they're also going to increase the supply of coal to the country and is even the possibility of providing electricity directly from russia to japan to win the war to cable links the two countries power of course a very important commodity when it comes to japan trying to get itself back on its feet very important to those people who are looking to try and find people trapped under rubble to make sure they can work at night also to make sure that those people seeking medical attention can those hospitals have the power to be able to continue to treat those people now prime minister vladimir putin has said that

russia will stand shoulder to shoulder with its neighbor to the east as they face this crisis. we need to continue monitoring the situation in the russian far east as closely as possible i just talked to the local authorities in the region the situation there is no. oh from the point of view of people's housing and radioactivity nevertheless the situation must be closely monitored on around the clock by the authorities closely monitoring the situation in russia he remote seen outpourings of grief and sympathy for those people of the people of cuba who have been caught up in the series of disasters we've seen and i'll talk memorial being established outside of the japanese embassy where people have been turning up and laying flowers to show their support for the people of japan at this time in tesco slaves who now and that's a role has a wealth of experience doesn't it in dealing with the with the time make how can we . help in this situation. well so far the

comparison between the chernobyl accident and the situation unraveling in japan has been more or less figurative in fact the experts have been saying that the situations are completely different the reactors in both are stations are different the the aftermath the immediate aftermath of the disaster is different and definitely the security means that both stations are very much different but indeed should the russian assistance be needed in japan of course moscow would offer a great deal of experience because chernobyl did that which are noble disaster to this day remains history's biggest manmade nuclear disaster and of course tens of thousands of people from all across the soviet union back then were used in the cleanup operation the people who are called liquidators now it is yet unclear whether any of those liquidators could be taking part in an operation in japan trying to assist the japanese rescuers on the site but indeed if they will of course that will be a very significant the chernobyl indeed left

a legacy for textbooks and all the methods of fighting such nuclear incidents worked out by the soviet union still remain as the main obviously the main line for behaving in. situations as it is been happening in japan and we've already seen the first signs that the japanese government has been using the experience gained in chernobyl for instance i just to give you example of what i mean the people from twenty kilometer radius zone around the nuclear plant in fukushima were evacuated almost immediately after the news broke out of a nuclear accident at the station something which of course did not happen twenty five years ago in chernobyl and people from a nearby town of people had had to wait for more than a day to be evacuated this was caused by both the negligence of the authorities and the attempts to organize a proper evacuation early i did a report with a short recap of what exactly happened twenty five years ago in soviet

a crane spare no effort in getting the job done this typical motto for construction projects in the soviet union also applied to the chernobyl nuclear power plant when construction kicked off in the nine hundred seventy s. it was intended to be a dream project for soviet ukraine. the birth rate increase was higher than all of ukraine people were given homes and there was a great demand for a work force in chernobyl so everyone work and lighted. but this happy existence came to an abrupt end on april the twenty six nine hundred eighty six with the explosion of the reactor at the power station there is say more to use for building the plants there are no effort was known to be used in the clear up of the world's worst ever manmade nuclear disasters the blazing reactor was bombarded with sand and lead measures which at first seemed plenty driven with which were elated deemed highly effective by the international atomic energy agency this action helped to

contain the radiation and enable construction of the sort of course a good structure built around the reactor to seal it off for several months after the catastrophe the lessons of chernobyl have been low. by experts worldwide since the catastrophe and will have been of assistance to those bashing the latest serious nuclear accident in japan threatening contamination with large numbers of people being evacuated because of the radiation threat something which didn't happen twenty five years ago in soviet ukraine the chernobyl fallout was caused by i must say of human error mistakes made by the authorities in the first hours after the blast also cost many lives but the events of twenty five years ago in what is now sovereign ukraine proved to be an invaluable lesson for mankind. see reporting from kiev ukraine. but japan has declared emergency alert at another nuclear power plant in the north east of the country radiation levels of

about seven hundred times higher than normal have reportedly been detected out by three c. and i got our what authours he's a current investigation the source i will for more pain on the threat of a nuclear crisis in japan let's settle to harvey was a man he's written extensively on the subject of sustainable green power he joins me live now from ohio many miles to being with us here on r.t. japanese officials insist there is no danger of people in relation to the crisis affecting its nuclear plants well obviously they do want to avoid panic but just how bad really is the current situation there do you think very it's very we have no reports of six reactors there under stress we we've had at least a partial meltdown at least one reactor we've already had. a reactor with water the problem is that when nuclear actors go down they still require

a trip power to operate pumps to keep the reactors in the spirit of your. power has been lacking and we could conceivably god forbid have six meltdowns. there this is and this is not. a situation to be taken lightly i do not believe the japanese government when they say that no one is at risk. you know that you are saying no it's a risk but simultaneously they're evacuating people i want to provide them for evacuated people but this is a situation where the risk is very very substantial one of course that you've been saying the japanese government has repeatedly stressed that it does not any people are at risk without he was saying there is now trouble apathetic wind power plant and on a cow and i weigh from the fukushima plant and that says the second step is she starts with a fire which was quickly poor sound but now radiation levels that are rising and

rapidly in the thirty's and is there a danger that all the nuclear facilities could experience difficulty that well you actually had three and you have to remember there are multiple reactors at these facilities unlike other places in the world the japanese reactors are are clustered there were seven for example akasha was ocky in two thousand and seven when they were hit by an earthquake and all seven of those reactors had to shut their two separate multiple facilities i fukushima and now we have only got as well you remember the eleven reactors were shocked when the earthquake came we don't know how many of those reactors are suffering from severe and you're nearing an operational problems but it looks like far more than was a risk originally believed this is a huge earthquake which by some accounts is actually going to upgrade it to nine point zero which is just about the the peak of the scale and these reactors were not designed to sustain and point zero. earthquake even though people knew it was

a possibility so we have as i say a level reactor to shut we now know that six are under stress any one of which could cause a hugely devastate. radiate radiation release there is no way that the people of japan are not in danger and i'm afraid that a large enough release could affect russia. indeed the japanese prime minister did say that his country was facing its biggest crisis since the end of the second world war and. moving on japan as we know it doesn't experience a minor earthquake so mazed every day doesn't it so how safe do you think it really is her country designed even to have nuclear power stations in the first place it's not safe for all those reactors should never have been built i was in japan in one thousand nine hundred seventy six and seventy eight and exactly this kind of scenario was discussed people said you should not build these nuclear plants

because something like we're seeing al could happen in the government and the industry said no we will have it under control and we clearly see now that they don't have it under control you have to remember this is the second time in less than five years then earthquake a major nuclear facility the question was archy facility was hit with several reactors in july of two thousand and seven serious damage was done not as serious as we see today but nonetheless this is an endemic problem that we knew was happening all along there were many many people in japan who argue against these reactors being built and now we're seeing the consequences for him as i mentioned earlier after the crisis out that the sheen of the government did immediately order an evacuation with the exclusions a subsequently widened considerably i do you think this this will help is the government doing enough. it's impossible to know are in

a situation like that it's hard to do enough we have an ongoing crisis or these reactors are not yet under control there's no guarantee that they'll get them under control if you have six reactors they're having serious problems simultaneous with the catastrophe that's occurred we're non-radioactive because of the tsunami i mean earthquake of this country's resources are severely stressed be very difficult even under the best of circumstances for any government in the world to deal with six simultaneous reactor crises are can't imagine that they have sufficient personnel our resources to properly deal with those and there's a very very dangerous situation dangerous is a great understatement any one of these reactors as i mentioned it's good capable on its own of major radiation releases there is additional factor these are old reactors and as a result they have a lot of spent fuel in this particular design their store of the top of the reactor

if you can believe that and so they're very very vulnerable not only with the ongoing operation of the reactor core but also with what may happen to the highly radioactive spent fuel. pan and i think facing a critical situation harvey wasserman many thanks speaking to us from ohio thank you and wish you all the best of the state without any throughout the day for the latest developments in japan and you can also of course thought on to our web sites i want to come. again it's course they've thrown off the news and now and fourth is that loyal to colonel gadhafi it gaining momentum in the east and these international calls for him to step down when libyan needier reports say rebel groups that could determine alex and several key towns well it's clear how the latest from the region. libyan state television is reporting that forces loyal to the libyan leader moammar gadhafi have now retaken the oil town of great get in the

east of the country according to state television this town has been to quote the maclean's to other arms games where it is the site of a major oil terminal and throughout the day sunday they have been hitting clashes happening there but we haven't as of yet been able to independently verify these state television reports in the past state television has been faulty in its reporting it based very often preempting the sex distance of the document before they actually happen but we can confirm that could definition in our edwardson eastwards they are encountering increasingly used to be organized rebel groups they do not have enough equipment and they lack leadership and until now what really has been a unifying factor which is enthusiasm is slowly starting to the way people are asking the question well how much longer can that enthusiasm hold out at the same time in the oil rich portion of rusted in the north the latest reports there is a case of the talent is in the hands of gadhafi is main we've been hearing from

able groups that they have the numbers but they do not have the equipment to take on his soldiers and rebel groups to have well come to the call from the arab league for a no fly zone to be implemented over libya this call came saturday when the foreign ministers of the arab league meet in cairo they have now called on the united nations security council to implement a no fly over the country but they've made the point that this must not illegal and must not be confused with foreign military intervention they say they could duffy has lost the legitimacy to rule as you can well expect gadhafi and his regime have criticized this call from the arab league so be on the ground as good duffy's forces make advances they are losing the war on the international front very much the feeling that they are being abandoned by the former friends but at the same time the rebel groups themselves are also feeling increasingly hope because there is chaos happening here it is not very clear where. frontline years if very often shots from one point to be either the rebel groups fear that any kind of foreign

involvement whether in the form of a no fly zone or in any kind of humanitarian assistance or anything else would be motivated by self-interest of the united states and the european union that they will not really be acting in the interests of libyan people not concerned about the safety of the rebel groups and themselves because he still remains the stronghold of the rebel groups we are hearing from gadhafi is a name that they are making their way there and win game being as a force to quote him any kind of disruptions and all the kinds of fighting that we've witnessed over the past month will come to an end here in tripoli the situation remains calm and quiet people here have accused the international community and the foreign media there feeds it of being alarmist they say that they have exaggerated the situation let's take a look there's a lot more haggling on the international stage of the merits of intervention and a no fly zone and the bargaining taking place in downtown tripoli market shops here close. people are afraid and many of the africans who used to work here have fled

the country but the arguments that libya is on the brink of civil war so foreign intervention is needed still seems to ring a little hollow several hundred people killed but that's not a huge level of violence it certainly isn't a global level of violence that would normally merit intervention gadhafi has offered access to foreign media but only if the camera lenses stay well away from any of the opposition but it's a similar picture in the opposition strongholds dr ramadan break he was forced to close the benghazi office of his newspaper because of pressure from rebels you have to print big version of events he says or nothing the media. is going through the heart places and all these cities are controlled by the bridges and then given that we will go through. what they think and what they believe and many gadhafi supporters fear that while he may be winning the war with the rebels he's

losing the information like here in john's outside tripoli schoolgirl mona says she's hustled and angry by reporter mercenaries with cheating people in her town. and so he seems calm on the streets. this civil war in libya except that it's coming from france the french do you think that they will. get. the real thing as normal right now and in the future. will move normally as for conflicts elsewhere with it it can't is climbing it's a little media coverage and even less common interest to intervene there are events unfolding right now in ivory coast where there is also a conflict an armed conflict between rebels and the government but nobody seems to be thinking of that it's only because fashionable attention is focused on libya the

only reason. for your oil you think would be iraq if their major adds or a pair was broccoli so as leaders meet in brussels to discuss the fate of a country hundreds of miles away many libyans are saying it's been nice and they'll clean it out policy r t john zogby. well let's talk now to. russia's account of years sizes many thanks for being with us here on our say that with gadhafi gaining momentum on the eastern front a rebel held strong how how possible to think it here that he could actually we get control of the entire country. it's quite important to understand that. forty one year veteran of the helm so he has again a lot of experience in dealing with those tribal. lation is with a lot of tribes in libya unlike president of egypt hosni mubarak or ben ali in

tunisia here in the power himself you know there was a coup which he won years ago by nine hundred sixty nine where could i think came into power so there's a lot of experience and expertise in raging civil war against his own people so he shouldn't be underestimated the whole story started about a month ago he said clearly that we are going to fight till till the last bullet and to the last man and it's not tunisia and it's not in egypt so moammar gadhafi should not be under-estimated turn days ago when i was in the studio really discussed this church with a leader said the time plays into or cut off as you know all revolutions they have certain timespan sort people want to change people get into the streets they're ready to fight for some time but then if nothing changes so there's no major change people get not quite disillusioned with the whole story now moammar proved to be

a perfect solution he has regained control over a few key cities and now he is fighting to get control over the few facilities and the difference of the power station that provides electricity for the eastern part of the country so quite likely the rebels will be cut off or power supply very soon and also doesn't know the death of forces are now in the control of the airspace over libya of course that gives a great advantage especially fighting in gaza terrain and what about the international community on all this with so many foreign leaders have haven't caught the decathlete to step down and say that he's lost his legitimacy imposing sanctions on his regime i referred to him as a political corpse how could they possibly rebuild their relations with. first of all the basic need for credit and now is to stay in power you know saddam hussein was. considered to be in one thousand nine hundred one gulf war just because he managed to stay in power there's

a very specific mentality you see so the most important thing is to stay in power once you've stayed in power you're the. opinion of the. world community isn't that important. has been ruling his conscience for over forty kids. in perfect relations with are the contras there or a war. on the garter back in one nine hundred eighty six so i think you see it doesn't care much about that his basic need now is to stay in power of course the united states has all its weight on for the arab league. i demand khadafi and commitment to die for to stop killing his own people or the radius of imposing non fly zone over. libya but you know conduct it doesn't care about that now could i first think what well he's quite sure in his final victory all the freezone people over the rebels the only consolidation now is moot conversion from abroad but. that's what really put off is concerned about my mind do you think the imposition

of this potential mayflies a could that mean the start of military intervention because the looses some people think some experts say that you see lots in polls an offline zone without waging major war libyan soil it will not work out could out here has quite old goto dated military gear but he is still quite capable of their defense so the only way to impose our north lies on. the dutch they do you really have problems with its ability to fight troubles using his air force so it will not be possible without actually a. major war believe in salt because you have to destroy those air defenses so it's quite unlikely to happen many times before. ok you're with r.t. i'll be out of our top stories in just a moment. in the movie.