in the. japan braces itself for further blasts said it stricken nuclear power plant as a cooling system to more reactors appear to be faltering skyrocketing fears of a nuclear meltdown the same problem is exactly what triggered the explosions on monday and tuesday. claim a radiation so reaching dangerous levels near the plant two hundred thousand people have already fled. three thousand people are confirmed dead so far and another four thousand are officially been missing since friday's mego quake and tsunami but of course suggests the final toll will be much higher. and what experts from the

international atomic energy agency head to the disaster area to offer their assistance some say the crisis is proof that nuclear energy comes out to higher prices. and we got a lot from moscow where it's now are just after three pm and are keeping our focus on the news out of japan and all six reactors at the fukushima power plant have now been affected by the ongoing crisis there the last two are said to be losing their cooling came bulletins and it's this exact problem that's caused all the blast site so far following the devastating quake and tsunami also a pool of spent nuclear fuel at the station is said to have reached a boiling point and stoking fears of a nuclear meltdown which were already high since the reactor explosions began to plan has reportedly now told the international atomic energy agency that the

facility is releasing a radio. materials into the air engineers again using sea water to cool the reactors in an attempt to avert a nuclear meltdown calls now artie's i bet it can join us live from about about one hundred kilometers from her station itself and our high either we are and we're talking about a situation that's not become truly dire we're not hearing any good news at this point it seems like the whole of japan the entire nation is gripped by the situation at once very nervous and it could here we are on the cusp of verdict ask if you could keep going. and absolute disaster in no one really knows which way to turn because it will feel this radiation is. seem like that way about radiation levels falling before the explosion only it's a day over overall second explosion and they thought the explosion at the nuclear power plant they talked four hundred times that those which one would expect to

receive in a year which is very critical and harmful level in these situations very tense here and all this follows the events of today which seems have just gone from bad to worse two explosions this morning it two previously intact reactors and then two more the final two reactors of the six out of the machine power plant we're hearing this evening now canceled critical condition they had that have been explosions there but they have also had their cooling mechanisms knocked out really can't cool down the reactors and that's what led to the first to explosions burst on saturday in the one yesterday and the situation suddenly got a whole lot more critical it went up a couple of notches with the second explosion today because of that thought reactor actually ours is a seven hundred eighty spent fuel rods all of which containing radioactive material normally a nuclear reactor actually contains around six secure and so there was

a lot more potential lot greater potential for all a much larger radiation leak in this project fears of a major nuclear catastrophe and potential nuclear meltdown also fueled by. the prime minister's address to the nation telling people to stay indoors even as they're going to comment on the government now is even when your laundry indoors because they don't want anyone going outside at all and it's going to foreign news crews all the ones i've seen today head for the exits are now actually in the gutter which is on the west coast because we feel that this area is much safer to be in and also hasn't been a lot of distrust about the information coming out from electric power company you don't have the power bar and also the government doesn't. not only months for a new script but also months. here for and residents i've spoken today they are also trying to get to the airport the first plane out of the country because they don't feel that the country is actually telling the truth they think. they are

reading between the lines and saying that. this information is very bad and they think that the prime minister actually doesn't want to fuel panic but on the streets there is panic in the east so either as a many people are trying to flee the area or the journalists then fly and i hear your suffering down on the on the western coast there but you've been in the area for several days now and as you've been looking at these pictures of the widespread devastation tell us what he's seen in terms of the relief operation in the country is a widespread is working. well the relief operation is definitely widespread ninety one countries are offering their help that sniffing dogs food aid everything that they face and absolutely massive amounts of the coast near sendai was one of the worst hit areas and sleep at the station is really our to imagine what actually was there because all you see for that first car as you can see almost is it isn't it is rubble in the sense of trees cars that it was a camp for lorry it was hot stuff merged in this sea of mud era buildings and cars

sort of balanced on top of one another it's hard to imagine actually how they got like that it's as if that all of the washing machine in and out again and so the rescue operation and the relief workers face an absolutely massive task sifting through all this debris trying to find parts or days now since the earthquake and tsunami hit and they know this thousands of people still unaccounted for at one time town prefectly i mean any salary came and still missing ten thousand residents and. they're facing a race against time really because they fear that there is completely another earthquake coming up seven in the seventy percent chance of that heating in an extra two to five days and following that there is another tsunami last night prattles a really sleepless night because in sendai there were a number of aftershocks will heat around four am local time and that actually

working out with a bit shaking it was so strong and so the real thing is there is a mystery now a compound by the fact of its very serious radiation leak people are queuing up outside or all the stores still selling there isn't much left one queue of people is actually out of comments along with it trying to stockpile what they can because they think they might this then was there a long time and also who were just one of the the countries. of the country in. you know what it's like but you cannot it sounds so good all right now but all the flights from here there all through the next two days and all flights out of here actually well but either we're hearing reports of the twenty five thousand people have so far been rescued but we hearing confirmed at five hundred twenty thousand people are currently staying in twenty five hundred shelters so certainly it is a right spread relief operation and i think i've been in their life in the gutter japan thank you. well christopher simons an associate professor at the

international christian university in tokyo believes the people are now in grave danger of exposure. there is a serious risk of contamination at this point but the contamination is probably limited kind of fukushima area and the authorities are having to focus on the reactors whose temperatures are the highest and that may require divertissement of coolant and cooling materials such as generator power and pump and power away from the other reactors if the level of coolant and the reactor pressure vessel falls below a certain level the tops of those rods will be exposed to the air there is a separate heating of the air and any water vapor around them that causes oxidize ation essentially very rapid rusting which produces hydrogen and that hydrogen is what as we have seen as caused the explosions in reactors the most immediate

concern which has come to us in tokyo over the past twelve hours last night is that the amount of fuel available in the north that is gasoline and diesel fuel and diesel fuel is one of the keys to resolving this situation easily generators which are pumping it's a mixture of seawater and boron that is more and more of acid or on in the forecast it is a very good neutron absorbers so it's good at slowing that reaction down they see water and boric acid is being pumped into these reactors and those pumps must continue working well the amount of water pressure required in this situation is extremely high because those reactor cores are so hot as the water hits them it turns very rapidly into steam and that steam has to be moved away from the reactor rods and warm water up into its place so a constant stream of water has to be maintained. well the higher than normal levels

of radiation have been detected now in the japanese capital and the authorities admitting there is an imminent risk the health of our correspondent in minnesota is that. very decent level. would have been raised not significantly and are not presenting any needs a danger to residents of. the capital of course at the same time you have to remember that the levels of radiation at around the farms are such that thousands of people have already been moved actually to tens of thousands have been told to keep their doors and windows shut and do not leave their homes so at some point there were parts of radioactivity levels of just north of choke you have and have nots thirty three times the norm so that is the situation that we're looking at right now and of course the i.a.e.a. is saying that radiation levels are going to we are going to.

rise in the near future as radiation reaches chios so we're keeping a close watch on whether or not we're going to have any further reaction from the japanese authorities. very nice intervals in the japanese kept me actually rise as well we also know that you know what i have been more than one hundred thousand years but i have been released. and sent off to the areas affected there most the rescue efforts are still continuing there of course trees various countries helping japan in that regard there's not that many people out in the streets it's very very quiet it's almost a moros feeling you would imagine so. bursting with lights and it's a pity there is hardly anybody out on the streets right now people that are out there all wearing face masks so there have been reported of shortages of sound have been reported people are increasingly buying such things as water and products and

some other things have been staring off their cells but again they're doing it in very orderly fashion and. nobody is running around. reaming that's what we were hoping to see but still of course there is that there is a very very bizzare feeling in the air to say obviously something is in the air so to speak and starts radiation it's probably theory and prevention it's people are still waiting for what's going to happen next how things are going to recording for now russian families living in so proximity to japan are offering a safe haven for children caught up in the ongoing quake disaster but in russian regions are closer to the danger zones emergency services remain on high alert so the danger of a possible radioactive cloud reaching the area is minimal as the wind is expected to blow towards the pacific ocean but despite that some torched foreign workers are leaving the area but our correspondent clinical trial has more from the region

that's less than one hundred kilometers north of japan. emergences officials for this region have been turns to for a chat sport radiation levels here in the civilian region we talk to representatives of the ministry sometime ago they showed us a car which they quit with professional guide her meters which will measure radiation levels at different places around the city because it will be raising the city of usual supply lines so the margin says ministry here assures that as of tuesday morning there is no increase in radiation levels and there is no cause for the residents to panic. and. in the worst case scenario locals can make. home there's no threats to the health of the people radiation readings are at a normal level. meanwhile russia's defense ministry is that it is ready to send out its personnel from the coral islands any time soon this is the closest pas of this

region to north japan and also sales of i.o.c. and have rocketed in pharmacies across the city obviously people want to make sure that they are well prepared and case that there is a radioactive emission threat from what we know from what we know from people we've spoken to is that the believe the emergence is ministry of russian there are reports of all normal radiation levels is just that they are not quite sure whether japanese are playing down the threat of a nuclear catastrophe or not planes heavey international airport over usual according to the shuttle after what we know there are no edition no flights a range of people here indeed are not new to natural disasters such as tsunamis and earthquakes but with a new clear throughout soon place it seems that they have to be prepared for the a no rain and a lot do cons on the wind it is very crucial so what people should be closely monitoring now is weather for cos it will take

a radioactive cloud if there is an explosion inside a core of a nuclear reactor less than a day to reach peace part of russia. trover according to that book prime minister vladimir putin has called on all emergency officials in russia's far east to be prepared to act according to the worst case scenario that's comes to start an optimistic forecast by the head of the country's state nuclear energy company he says the region is out of any immediate danger in any case it doesn't even in the worst case scenario if there's a complete meltdown there's no longer be a nuclear explosion only a radioactive leak is new create a large exclusion zone around the station where there will be you know the energy to propel the radioactive cloud high up in the air ship so even if there is very strong wind blowing in our direction for several days there's still no danger of the russian far east now japan has asked the international atomic energy agency to

help the country deal with its nuclear crisis its comes amid concerns of similar incidents taking place around the world and also he's done a bushel has been following the developments in europe and our brings us all the latest from brussels. the japanese government has officially requested the i to provide expert missions the is the international atomic energy agency the un's nuclear watchdog based here in the european union and its head yukiya amano says it has it's pretty easy in finding and releasing and securing radiation levels and environmental danger levels and also in finding missing radioactive sources it comes as the emergency response meeting here in brussels has been raised from expert to ministerial level that means all twenty seven e.u. energy ministers have been called to brussels to really cordon its own emergency response and also to see how they can help or help japan in this growing tragedy into the e.u. energy commissioner says we need to see if we can provide an energy policy for the

e.u. that avoids nuclear energy of course it's the flu but it's really a change from the traditional energy policy of many countries in the european union which was to increase its nuclear nuclear capacities because italy for example is a big e.u. country which is starting from scratch a big nuclear program france belgium here also had big nuclear programs but now there is increasing concern about the safety obviously of nuclear reactors there are boiling water reactors here in the european union which is the same kind of plant as that at fukushima and there is growing public opposition to that now there was a demonstration of around sixty thousand people in germany near for nuclear reactors there and just to give you a flavor of the sentiment here in brussels let me just quote from the portuguese state secretary for the environment he said in the light of the nuclear meltdown in

japan member states need to reconsider their energy policy and related security measures nuclear power is neither a safe option nor is it sustainable the one hundred plus nuclear plants across the european union and now conducting stress tests to see whether a similar accident could happen in the european union. and he's going to put a reporting there were all six reactors of the fukushima nuclear plant have been affected with the last two now in critical condition radiation levels of station are sort of becoming too high for engineers to be able to work in the control rooms now a no fly zone with a radius of thirty kilometers over the facility has now been imposed by the authorities or the site's owner is admitted a meltdown is a possibility of following explosions of all three working reactors under fire and one of the others several people have been injured in the blasts were more than one hundred fifty have been directly exposed to radiation japan's prime minister has

addressed the nation as fears intensify about a possible nuclear disaster forty seven districts in the country are having to report their continual radiation readings to assess the spread. i want to. interview the world economy and international relations good to see you there's a lot of uncertainty surrounding the situation in japan with the reactors and how it's all going to pan out let's talk about the worst case scenario here how bad because. the whole already is already the worst case scenario. you know many experts don't trust the information. and authorities as a rule is because usually officials try to decrease the magnitude of the whole scenario it's quite evident that no down has already begun to really curb you're saying that officials are saying everything's under control everything's going to be fine but you're saying that may not be the court case you know unfortunately as

we know from previous disasters a three mile island in pennsylvania back in nine hundred seventy nine and then in chernobyl and so you're in the soviet union usually that's orators try to stop spreading panic but you already know that at least it will you know it's down has already occurred and japan authorities are very wary about speaking about that. today we have witnessed the explosion of the. book itself without that was it is a clear. footage what was i mean it was an enormous explosion massive very going up in the air but you mentioned a moment ago about how could russia's experience with cho noble be relevant to know russia has done a great job fighting the disaster in chernobyl and then fighting the consequences first of all the fallout that happened across some regions and russia can offer a lot of expertise in fighting those consequences and also you know the russians

understand very well the magnitude of the disaster and you know. the situation for all the trash and prime minister vladimir putin immediately offered all available this instance to japan to lead. and even the shipment all four could get so you can guess from russia cold compensate for this election well what if i may we're running a one time here but let's let's briefly touch down on what global implications are to the east of japan you have various gulf stream so you have the north pacific jet stream or rather you have the north jet stream if we have this nuclear matter this contaminated radiation get into the ocean going to global currents what can this mean for the great you know the amount of radiation being released now and the amount of radiation get a little bit at least in the coming few machine is so great that actually the whole global the affected you know disaster chernobyl were only one pole you know it was affected you know this radiation covered the whole globe so the magnitude all the

looming disaster cannot be predicted now but definitely is going to be one of the worst nuclear disaster is to write you off from the institute of a world economy and international relations thank you. but moscow has been pledging to help and support human stricken japan sending crews of emergency workers and ever since the first earthquake triggered the trip last russia has had experience as we were saying earlier in dealing with nuclear disasters of course the accident that happened a quarter of a century ago. finds out that not even one of the most highly technological nations in the world is secure from an atomic. it was a failed experiment that led to history's biggest nuclear disaster in april ninety ninety six the chernobyl reactor exploded as a result of the wrong individuals being in the wrong place at the wrong time and the. they had very poor knowledge of the physics of the reactor they knew the

manual and what buttons to push but. they knew nothing of the reactor physics the personnel draw the reactor and to state it was out of control while the earth or it is clearly knew who to blame for the fall out even the soviet union's top scientists were at a loss as to what to do in the days that were tasked with the unfolded is going to . station as a mission free this was something unseen with a nuclear power station with flames and smoke all over it was a quarter of a century on history seems to be repeating in japan despite the or thora these claims there are of having the situation under control the fukushima nuclear power plant has already seen explosions and that's despite advanced safety systems which the chernobyl reactor never had when we look towards the earthquake the reaction was completely foresee means. the reactors happened to be happening and this is very upset.

when. you see the decent do you agree that such a situation is unfolding in one of the world's most technologically advanced countries has heightened the sense of alarm internationally that some experts say one should look into how the japanese have been dealing with nuclear physics to get clues as to their continuing difficulties in dealing with a disaster so the technology is dead he told. the society the government the regulators believe that the technology can be a breach safely but there's a built in psychological complacency big hurok breach is something that saw it herald dangerous when you go to work every day do you keep thinking about how dangerous that technology is that would be over time rather damaging psychologically so in other words they convince themselves that they've mastered

this technology and unfortunately with nuclear power there's no second chance the japanese nuclear drama is certainly not the first case of man's over reliance and book knowledge you can be a dangerous friend and one mishandled can strike in disastrous fashion we have always seen this with these what they call tech majestic disasters you remember last year there was a massive oil spill in the gulf of mexico again you had a very competent famous company that seem to know what it was doing but they simply haven't planned for conjuncture conditions that would create a disaster so this is the human condition we simply unable it seems to handle these technologies are probably not ready for them the nightmare that the chernobyl reactor became was eventually sealed off within the massive concrete soon called the circle forgets the catastrophe provided valuable lessons in how to deal with the reactor disaster but also stern warnings about the dangers of nuclear

energy what new lessons will be learned and what implications they will have for nuclear technology the world nervously waits to see alexey russia's ski party. well one of the members of the rapid response team that dealt with that china will disaster says that japan's nuclear crisis won't have the same effect as what occurred in the soviet union. in japan their reactors construction is different from that internationally as the fukushima reactor has a solid cover even if he q.j. explosion occurs it won't have been a third as in chernobyl as there in the reactor was not in a capsule and that's why everything got into the atmosphere in japan though it is minor there won't be such consequences as massive nuclear contamination it's a global manmade disaster and evacuation procedures should definitely be prioritized it was unforseen and that's word so horrible as for how much information should be released to the public with it needs to be very careful as

the information might be misinterpreted and panic means to. maintain our focus on japan and the disaster that's let's find out about the impact of the economic damage with your ear. that's right concerns about the state of japan's economy have been rising as the extent of the devastation becomes clear initial estimates already put the country's losses at one hundred seventy billion dollars but some experts say the actual was could be much more although the quake's fury bypassed japan's industrial heartland the shock waves have been felt throughout the business sector power supply is critical in the country firms like your attorney son have had to stop production because with eleven option fifty four hour stations out of action they are running out of energy carmakers should builders and pathology companies worldwide are short

of supplies after the disaster transportation is also bad there are factors points handling as much as seven percent of japan's industrial output sustained major damage but most likely to be out of operation for months and damage to refineries is having a knock on effect with queues forming up petrol pumps. now let's see how the asian markets reacted to the situation in japan the mess of sell off on the choke your stock exchange continued on tuesday as investors were trying to guess how badly japan's major companies could be hit the nikkei closed down just under eleven percent of its second slump in two days hong kong saying same track close losses closing the session down three percent decrease losses were compounded by japan's prime minister's statement that a substantial amount of radiation was leaking from groups of the sheema nuclear power plant. and european stocks go falling sharply i meet fears that japan's

earthquake may undermine supply chains for global benefactress european stocks dived with food slog and the poorest the fall of the four balance in late morning trading. that says we're gaining some losses in lunchtime trading but it's still losing just. over four point three percent on the food scene is not far behind down two point four percent that's our teaching of pressure we've month low. finally moving to russia here both the r.t.s. and the mice it's have joined the global sell off often largely ignoring the japanese crisis on monday energy shares are losing ground on decreasing world prices. but trips up the bills business bulletin war for my college which made a dent in announced time. wealthy british soil done its best down to the spotlight.