"nuclear watch" brings you insight and information on the fukushima daiichi crisis. and "the road ahead" examines japan's efforts to recover and rebuild. don't miss "nuclear watch" and "the road ahead" on "newsline." >>> it is a level we haven't seen since the turmoil recently. overnight, the dow-jones hit 13,000 for the first time since may, 2008. shares rose across the board tuesday after the eurozone finance ministers approved a bailout for greece saving them from imminent default. the dow lost earlier gains before closing on worries over rising oil prices. the index ended at 12,965, up 15 points from friday's close. and now to see how stocks are trading in tokyo, let's go to ramin mellegard at the tokyo stock exchange. the dow broke 13,000 at one point. what's the early impact on japanese stocks? >> very good morning to you, ai. as you mention, the crucial 13,000 level on the dow, interesting to see if we continue above that, but let's go to opening levels for the nikkei and topix, see if there's any positive momentum. we can see there's slight positive momentum.

the chief of fukushima daiichi informed the government three days after the accident that cooling system failures could cause a meltdown of nuclear fuel rods. the information was reportedly sent to cabinet members and atomic energy experts. the economy minister was chief cabinet secretary at the time. he also served as the government spokesperson. he said in the report that authorities were on stand by to act if the fuel rods continued to be exposed to the air. that would have released a large amount of radioactive material and prevented workers from entering reactor buildings. he also said he feared problems could occur at another nuclear plant in fukushima and that tokyo might have to be evacuated. he added the cabinet was told of this scenario, but that the government chose not to make it public. the independent report stresses the need for discussions on information disclosure by the government during emergencies. >>> russian state television says security forces have foiled a plot to assassinate vladimir putin. they say two men confessed. they were arrested last month in the ukraine

"nuclear watch" brings you insight and information on the impact of the fukushima daiichi crisis. and "the road ahead" examines japan's efforts to recover and rebuild. don't miss "nuclear watch" and "the road ahead" on "newsline. >>> researchers say they have detected high levels of radioactive cesium in earthworms around the damaged fukushima daiichi power plant. the researchers are from the forestry and forest products research institute. they checked cesium levels in earthworms at three locations. one sample was checked from 30 kilometers from the plant. they detected about 19,000 becquerels of cesium in every kilogram of worms. they took a second sample 70 kilometers from the plant. those contained 1,000 becquerels per kilogram. they took a third sample 130 kilometers from the plant. the levels there were about 290 becquerels. the researchers say cesium levels rise in proportion to the radioactive levels of topsoil. the worms feed on decomposed leaves in the soil. >> translator: i'm concerned that earthworms with high level of cesium will have an impact on forest animals. >> h

"nuclear watch" brings you insight and information on the impact of the fukushima daiichi crisis. and "the road ahead" examines japan's efforts to recover and rebuild. don't miss "nuclear watch" and "the road ahead" on "newsline." >>> leaders from japan and the united states are trying to strike a balance between regional security and sensitivity to local concerns. they've agreed to change the terms of a bilateral agreement. the 2006 deal is essentially a blueprint outlining the future deployment of u.s. troops in okinawa. right now 3/4 of american forces stationed in japan are based in the southern island prefecture. the current plan calls for thousands of u.s. marines to be shipped out to guam, but only once the futenma air station is moved from a densely populated area on okinawa's main island to a less populated location. many locals are opposed to the plan because they want the futenma base moved out of okinawa entirely. that's prompted the u.s. and japan to change their agreement. the marines will be transferred first as details of the futenma relocation are worked out. >> t

nuclear watch brings you insight and information on the impact of the fukushima daiichi crisis. and the road ahead examines japan's efforts to recover and rebuild. don't miss nuclear watch and the road ahead on "newsline." >> next we continue our series of special reports from vietnam. >> reporter: this week we're reporting on the challenges and opportunities facing central vietnam. we'll have a report on the burgeoning tourism market in just a moment. but first, some other news from the region. the trial has begun in manila of the former president of the philippines. she appeared in court on thursday and pleaded not guilty to charges of electoral fraud. she was indicted in november on suspicion of ordering the manipulation of vote counts during a senate election in 2007. the case is viewed as a key test for the government of the president who has made eliminating corruption a priority. and next we continue our special report on central vietnam boosting tourist arrives is a key goal with the central region to catch up with economic development in the rest of vietnam. now it's wo

the operator of fukushima daiichi tries to figure out what's going on inside reactor number two. the people who run tokyo electric power company are puzzled over the state of one of the reactors. they say a thermometer in the damaged number two reactor indicates the temperature inside has gone up. they're trying to figure out if and how to cool it down. spokespersons for tepco say one of three thermometers at the bottom of the reactor read more than 71 degrees celsius sunday afternoon. a jump of about 25 degrees in ten days. tepco rearranged water pipes to cool the reactor more efficiently. the spokespersons say the two other thermometers read about 45 degrees. they say they don't know why only one shows higher temperatures. workers partially suspended the injection of cooling water during plumbing work in late january. the spokespersons say the procedure may have changed the way the water circulated inside the reactor. and they say that may have prevented the system from sufficiently cooling the nuclear fuel. >>> a staged arbitration body wants tepco to make advance payments to

. >> in last year's accident at the fukushima daiichi plant, people had to evacuate from a wider area than had been expected. the government has now expanded the area from a ten kilometer radius to 30 kilometers. municipalities are being asked to draw up a nuclear disaster management plans by october. some of them are concerned about the request. the southern tip of diago town lies within the 30 kilometer radius of the number two nuclear plant. officials are having difficulty drawing up a new disaster management plan because more than 1/3 of the town's residents were over 65 and they don't have an emergency broadcast system. >> israeli defense minister has welcomed the u.s. and european decision to impose embargo on iranian forces to step up sanctions. he also hinted at a military strike at the nuclear facilities in the embargo fails. he made the comment in an interview with nhk. >> sanctions should be ratcheted up and accelerated to show any result before the iranians will drift into what we call the zone of immunity. >> he referred to iran's claim that it has developed an advanced c

nearly half suggested a satisfactory investigation into the accident at the fukushima-daiichi plant and the understanding of local residents. a third cited new government safety regulations. local leaders said they are concerned about safety and demanded more government accountability. tokyo electric power company says it has successfully lowered the temperature inside the number two reactor at the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant. tepco had been struggling to deal with rising temperatures inside the reactor. a thermometer at the bottom of the reactor read 35 degrees celcius on january 27th, but rose to over 70 degrees on sunday. the cause is unknown, and two other thermometers inside the reactor registered little change. it began pumping more water into the plant on tuesday. it boosted the rate of injection to 13.5 tons per hour. the company says that the internal temperature at 5:00 a.m. wednesday had dropped 5.5 degrees from a day earlier. the current rate of injection is the highest since after the crisis began last march. the temperature inside the reactor later rose slightly but is

the operator of a disabled fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant says attempts to cool the facility number three reactor through water injection continue as we speak. but that temp in the facility remains high. but the firm says the reactor is in a state of cold shutdown. the tokyo lek tri power company, tepco, says a thermometer at the bottom to have he actor read about 73 celsius on monday morning. the temperature has risen more than 20 degrees in the past four days. spokes people say two other they recall meters have stayed at 44 degrees. tepco has been injecting more than ten tons of water for hour into the reactor. the firm says the temperature rise indicates that the flow of water may have changed direction after plumbing work was carried out disrupting the cooling system. but the utility says radioactivity has not been detected in gases around the reactor. tepco says it will increase the amount of water being inject into the reactor to see if it cools. the japanese government will start measuring radiation around the plant. government officials are ree vising the no fly zone over th

the earthquake and tsunami triggered a series of events at the fukushima daiichi power plant. the terrifying images of a nuclear crisis unfolding were immediately seen around the world and international media rushed into japan to see for themselves how serious the situation was. often they were frustrated by the level of information they were given. as the administration's spokesperson, he was put in the hot seat. >> many people in tokyo frankly don't believe the statements that japanese officials are saying. they feel the statements have been very vague. often contradictory. >> we are trying our best to provide information to the public and we know that this is very important in terms of the accountability of the government. >> reporter: considering the mounting concern about the long-term effects of radiation con tom nation, i asked him whether he thinks the situation should have been handled differently. >> in terms of the status of nuclear reactors, the i think there's good room with improvement in terms of how to facility the understanding of the public about the conditio

the crippled fukushima daiichi nuclear plant has been shown to the media. tokyo electric power company has given the media act soesz to the fooud plant for the first time since the government declared in december that the reactors there were in cold shutdown. the utility gave reporters a bus tour of the facility. the visit coincides with visits by the japan nuclear safety agency. reporters were allowed to get off the bus on a hill near the number four reactor and see the damage rocked by a hydrogen blast firsthand. during a previous media tour. reporters had to stay inside their bus. radioactivity levels on the hill are now 50 micro receivers per hours. the bus passed by cooling systems. workers have swathed pumps with sheathing and wrapped pipes with insulation materials to prevent leaks. >> translator: we will work the make the plant stable and safe so we can assure people that the plant will not release anymore radioactive substances. >> it is expected to take about 40 years to completely decommission the damaged reactors. tokyo electric officials faced

nuclear watch brings you insight and information on the impact of the fukushima daiichi crisis. and the road ahead examines japan's efforts to recover and rebuild. don't miss nuclear watch and the road ahead on "newsline." >> we have weather up next. >> hi there and welcome back. let's take a look at your weather conditions starting off with japan and starting off here in hokkaido. a very clear day throughout the day on tuesday. but this low pressure system overnortheastern china will then be moving over japan sea and then moving towards your area on wednesday bringing some blizzard conditions. as it does so, that's going to be dropping your temperatures down on tuesday forecasted high is 3. and then to thursday minus 4 is going to be your high. now we've got a very long stretching front that is from southeast china all the way to the pacific side of japan that's going to be bringing us wet weather including tokyo for the next couple of days. that's going to be bringing some warm air, but then again drop with a cold wave coming in towards the end of the week. it's going to be a

. >>> workers at the fukushima daiichi power plant are trying something new to prevent the spread of radioactive materials. tokyo electric power company will start cementing the seabed near the plant during the day. extremely high levels of radioactive cesium have been detected in the area. nuclear fuel rods in three of the plant's reactors melted down. contaminated water then leaked into the sea. ships are expected to retrieve the fuel rods and other debris from the plant within a few years. many worry the vessels will stir up the contaminated sand. workers plan to start pouring cement and clay over a 70,000-square-meter area near the water intakes of all six of the plant's reactors. the seabed is about six meters deep. spokespersons say a layer of cement on the seabed will prevent the spread of contaminated mud and sand for about 50 years. workers will begin full-scale application of the cement later in the month. they hope to complete the task by summer. >>> japanese officials want to share what they learned from the march 11th disaster. they're planning an international conferenc

nuclear watch brings insight and information on the fukushima daiichi crisis. and "the road ahead" is about how we rebuild. >>> a large scale evacuation drill has been held near the nuclear plant in western japan. a record 10,000 people took part. the drill was based on the assumption an earthquake damaged the nuclear plant. residents were evacuated by helicopter from a junior high school, about 20 kilometers from the plant. they were taken to a maritime self defense destroyer anchored 25 kilometers away. they were airlifted because they would have to pass by the nuclear plant if they evacuated by land. officials monitored data from the speedy computer system that projects the spread of radioactive materials. the japanese government was criticized for failing to use the system's data to evacuate people living near the fukushima plant. elementary school children gathered in the schoolyard soon after the drill started and evacuated to a gymnasium to avoid radioactive materials. >> people are becoming more aware of the possibility of an accident at the plant. we n

"nuclear watch" brings insight and information on the fukushima daiichi crisis. and "the road ahead" focuses on rebuilding. don't miss them on "newsline." >>> the operators of the fukushima daiichi plant are trying to get a handle on what's going on in reactor number two. officials with the power company say a thermometer hit more than 80 degrees celsius. a reading above that could mean conditions for a cold shut down have been compromised. two other thermometers suggest temperatures remain low. the thermometer in question is at the bottom of the reactor. it prompted tepco to inject more water into the reactor. the readings dropped temporarily, then started to rise again. they peaked at 82 degrees sunday afternoon. this is the first time a reading has exceeded 80 degrees since the government and tepco declared in december that the reactors had achieved cold shut down. tepco officials say two other thermometers installed tame height show temperatures around 35 degrees. and they say a study of air samples collected around the reactor shows no signs of nuclear criti

"nuclear watch" brings you insight and information on the impact of the fukushima daiichi crisis. and "the road ahead" examines japan's efforts to recover and rebuild. don't miss "nuclear watch" and "the road ahead" on "newsline." >>> north korea and the united states are due to hold direct talks in beijing thursday over north korea's nuclear development. the meetings will be the first since the death of kim jong il in december. north korea's nuclear envoy kim kye gwan arrived in beijing on tuesday. he did not speak with reporters. u.s. special envoy for north korean policy, glyn davies, arrived on wednesday. >> in the leadership in pyongyang, we will be interested to see whether they're interested in moving forward with us, what precisely his policies are, in what direction he wants to take his country. all of these are a bit unknowns at this stage. >> nhk world joins us with his view of the talks. hiroki, what do you think will be the focus of the discussions at the meeting? >> i don't think there will be a major breakthrough. that's because north korea and the united states hav

many consumers and the fukushima daiichi plant aren't buying locally produced food because of fears of radiation. but a store owner in fukushima city refuses to give into the fear. nhk world rorter has his story. >> reporter: this cake, known as bomkuhe, was made from rice flour grown in the area. it is denser than wheat flour and is naturally sweet. this shop opened in fukushima six months before the nuclear disaster. the eggs and the rice flour used to make the cake are grown in the region. this man owns the shop. he says his business has been on life support since the nuclear disaster. the farm where he bought his eggs closed down. and some rice grown in the area exceeded the government's radiation safety level. >> translator: we had always eaten local rice. but then it got contaminated. i was so shocked. >> at the same time, a lot of customers canceled orders. as well, the shop began receiving calls from people asking about safety. saito worried that he might have to close shop. but saito felt he couldn't turn his back on the local rice and vegetables. >> translator: i grew strong

"nuclear watch" which has the impact on the fukushima daiichi crisis. and "the road ahead." don't miss "nuclear watch" and "the road ahead." >>> the head of the u.s. fleet says iran is still building up its naval force near the strait of hormuz. the vice admiral spoke to reporters in bahrain on sunday. he said the high-speed boats are capable of carrying out suicide bombings. >> some of the small boats have been outfitted with a large warhead that could be used as a suicide explosive device. >> he said the u.s. navy is ready to confront any hostile action. iran has been threateningo close the straitf hor s due imposed b the area is home to ma an raitr liteinlv aom oa the ren thronc l pe ghis jnt mia s oekthemoh ro. >>ohes . m rolo h 75n9 s. nye e,yotrt tty. weedto ow tseountns are ma aye sumo starts early in t morning its ly7:. they have their loin cloth and ready to work out. six belong to thstable. they all live, eat and sleep under the same roof. aingtasitshiko. sumo developed as a rialwer bod it has additional meangfusnghe e ground this continues over the course presidin

japan confirms the government was preparing for the worst in the wake of an accident at the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant. the cabinet members have considered evacuating tokyo following the disaster last march. six experts sit on the panel. they interviewed 300 people including japanese and u.s. government officials. they'll issue their report tuesday. but nhk obtained in advance details. the document says the chief of fukushima daiichi informed the government three days after the accident the cooling system failures could cause a melt youb of nuclear fuel rods. the information was reportedly sent to cabinet members and atomic energy experts. the economy minister also served as the government's spokesperson. he said in the report authorities were on standby to act if the fuel rods continue to be exposed to the air. that would release a large amount of radioactive material and prevented workers from entering reactor buildings. he feared problems could occur at another plant in fukushima and tokyo might have to be evacuated. he added his cabinet was told of this scenario but the government ch

"nuclear watch" which has the impact on the fukushima daiichi crisis. and "the road ahead." don't miss "nuclear watch" and "the road ahead." >>> the head of the u.s. fleet says iran is still building up its naval force near the strait of hormuz. the vice admiral spoke to reporters in bahrain on sunday. he said the high-speed boats are capable of carrying out suicide bombings. >> some of the small boats have been outfitted with a large warhead that could be used as a suicide explosive device. >> he said the u.s. navy is ready to confront any hostile action. iran has been threatening to close the strait of hormuz since december. it is due to the economic sanctions imposed by the west over the nuclear program. the strait leads to the persian gulf. it is one of the most important delivery routes for oil. >>> the wife of an israeli agent and others were injured in a suspected terrorist attack. the woman was in a vehicle and the two others were in a car nearby nearby. a motorcyclist was placing a device on the car when it stopped in traffic. the blast occurred near the prime minis

local government officials have found that a tsunami more than 21 meters high hit the coast near fukushima daiichi. the group was led by university of tokyo professor. carried out a survey earlier this month of about 40 kilometers of coastline in no entry zones in fukushima prefecture. this is the first study of tsunami in the area since last year's earthquake. no one was allowed to enter zones due to radiation from the plant. among 28 spots studied, the wave reached its highest point 21 meters. tsunami more than 10 meters high hit other places around the nuclear plant. a previous survey of areas outside the no entry zones found waves were less than 10 meters high in many spots. >> translator: it is necessary to study why and how the tsunami got so high in some areas as this will help in drawing up preventive measures. >>> many job seekers and employers in fukushima prefecture find themselves in a strange predicament. as disruption from the nuclear disaster continues, some people want work, but can't find jobs. on the other hand, some business people want workers, but can't find employees. in "the

a new report on the accident at fukushima daiichi says the japanese government failed to heed u.s. safety guidelines. members of an independent panel spent months studying the response to the disaster last march in northeast japan. they interviewed 300 people, including senior japanese and u.s. officials. the report says the japanese government ignored the advice of u.s. authorities. panel members say the u.s. nuclear regulatory commission established guidelines after 9/11 for restoring reactors disabled by a terrorist attack. they say the u.s. commission explained the guidelines to japan's nuclear and industrial safety agency on at least two occasions. and the commission asked japanese officials to improve the anti-terrorism measures at their nuclear facilities. but the independent panel says the agency did not adopt the u.s. recommendations. panel members say that if the guidelines had been followed, the damage at fukushima daiichi would have been less severe. the japanese government says it will examine the report's findings in detail. the main opposition liberal democratic part

tokyo electric power company allowed access to the fukushima daiichi plant. reporters were allowed in since december. the reactors were in cold shut down. the utility gave reporters a bus tour of the facility. the visit coincides with inspections by the nuclear and industrial safety agency. reporters were allowed to get off the bus on a hill near the number four reactor. they saw the damage from a hoed row general explosion last march. journalists had to stay inside the bus during a previous media tour. radioactivity levels on the hill are 50 microsieverts per hour. anyone spending the day there would be exposed to more than one millisievert of radiation, the annual limit for the general public. reporters saw workers preparing to build a facility to store spent fuel rods. the bus passed by cooling systems that have seen dozens of water leaks since january. workers have wrapped pumps with sheeting and pipes with insulation materials to prevent leaks. >> translator: we will work to make the plant stable and safe so we can assure people that the plant will not r

"nuclear watch" brings insight and information on the impact of the fukushima daiichi crisis. "the road ahead" examines the efforts to recover and rebuild. don't miss "nuclear watch" and "the road ahead" on "newsline". >>> palestinians in the gaza strip have harassed a convoy carrying the secretary general. ban ki-moon. growing discontent over the ability to facilitate peace in the region. the incident occurred thursday when they tried to enter the local u.n. office. palestinians pummelled the convoy and yelled go back. earlier in the day, palestinians threw shoes and other articles at the same u.n. convoy when it crossed into gaza from israel. the u.n. provides humanitarian assistance and programs for palestine. those efforts are usually welcomed by local residents. >> well, it is not surprising when you come to gaza that people who live here who orchestrated and who have been so long deprived of elementary rights, that they come and demonstrate. >> the syrian president abbas kept a lock on power despite a year of protests. he tells nhk his grip may be slipping. his group is

nuclear watch brings you insight and information on the impact of the fukushima daiichi crisis. and the road ahead examines japan's efforts to recover and rebuild. don't miss nuclear watch and the road ahead on "newsline." >> we have weather up next. >>> hi and welcome back. in japan the winter pattern is back. yet again another round of snowy and windy weather across much of the western half. we're talking about in the next 24 hours expecting 70 centimeters up to 50 centimeters in some areas. the fresh snow piling up pretty quickly will lead to surface avalanche to be aware of. in addition, sustained winds of 72 kilometres per hour in much of the sea of japan side will create blowing snow as well as snow drifts. it's really very dangerous for the driving conditions down there. picking up those waves high as much as four five meters across much of the coast lines. the pacific coast looking pretty dry and remaining very cold. we'll take a look at those temperatures. high pressure will be dominating much of eastern continue tentnal asia. pretty clear out there. a few showers seen

nuclear watch brings you insight and information on the impact of the fukushima daiichi crisis. and the road ahead examines japan's efforts to recover and rebuild. don't miss nuclear watch and the road ahead on "newsline." >>> last year's march 11th earthquake stranded millions of people in tokyo. trains stopped running, cars clogged roads, commuters either walked home or found somewhere to sleep. city officials want to do better the next time disaster strikes, so they organized a special drill friday. 10,000 people took part. the drill played out at department stores, rail way stations and public facilities. the tokyo metropolitan government advises people to stay indoors following major earthquakes so during the exercise department store clerks led shoppers to safer areas inside the building. the city sent out messages via digital broadcast and twitter about available shelters and means of transportation. participants at a zral train station used their mobile phones to keep informed and compare information. >> translator: the drill taught me how to check information on my phon

company says it has successfully lowered the temperature inside a number two reactor at the fukushima daiichi power plant. tepco had been struggling to deal with rising temperatures inside the reactor. the thermometer on the bottom of reactor read 45 degrees celsius on january 27th, but rose to over 70 degrees on sunday. the cause is unknown and the two other thermometers inside the reactor registered little change. tepco said it began pumping more water into the plant on tuesday. it boosted the rate of injection to 13.5 tons per hour. the company says the internal temperature at 5:00 a.m. wednesday had dropped 5.5 degrees from a day earlier. the current rate of injection is the highest since just after the crisis began last march. tepco says a temperature inside the reactor rose slightly at 10:00 a.m. but is still dropping overall. the utility cannot determine the precise situation inside the reactor or the cause of the temperature rise. it says it plans to maintain the current rate of water injection. >>> more than 70% of japanese municipalities that host nuclear power plants are cautious a

nuclear watch brings you insight and information on the impact of the fukushima daiichi crisis. and the road ahead examines japan's efforts to recover and rebuild. don't miss nuclear watch and the road ahead on "newsline." >>> last year's march 11th earthquake stranded millions of people in tokyo. trains stopped running. cars clogged roads. commuter either to do better the next time disaster strikes. so they organized a special drill friday. 10,000 people took part. the drill played out at department stores, railway stations and public facilities. the tokyo metropolitan advises people to stay indoors following major earthquakes. during the exercise department store clerks led shoppers to safer areas inside the building. the city sent out messages via broadcast and twitter about available shelters and means of transportation. participants at a train station used mobile phones to keep informed and compare information. >> translator: the drill taught me how to check information on my phone before making any decisions. >> translator: ten minutes have passed, but i still can't get an

the document says the chief of fukushima daiichi informed the government three days after the accident the cooling system failures could cause a melt youb of nuclear fuel rods. the information was reportedly sent to cabinet members and atomic energy experts. the economy minister also served as the government's spokesperson. he said in the report authorities were on standby to act if the fuel rods continue to be exposed to the air. that would release a large amount of radioactive material and prevented workers from entering reactor buildings. he feared problems could occur at another plant in fukushima and tokyo might have to be evacuated. he added his cabinet was told of this scenario but the government chose not to make it public. the independent report stresses the need for discussions for information diskilo slur by the government during emergencies. a separate investigation into the fukushima meltdown has heard from a former u.s. nuclear regulatory chief. he told a parliamentary panel that on site experts should have the power to decide how to respond to an emergency situation at a

"nuclear watch" brings insight and information on the impact of the fukushima daiichi crisis, and "the road ahead" examines japan's efforts to recover and rebuild. don't miss "nuclear watch" and "the road ahead" on "newsline." >>> the head of the u.s. fifth fleet says iran is still building a naval force near the straight of hormuz. vice admiral mark fox spoke in bahrain. he said iran deployed more submarines and high speedboats, capable of carrying out suicide bombings. >> some of the small boats have been outfitted with a large war head that could be used as a suicide explosive device. >> but he said the u.s. navy is ready to confront any hostile action. iran has been threatening to close the straight of hormuz since december. it is in retaliation to economic sanctions imposed by the west over the country's nuclear program. the strait leads to the persian gulf. it is one of the world's most important delivery routes for oil. >>> the wife of an israeli diplomat and three others were injured in a car explosion in the indian capital of new delhi on monday. the woman and driver were in t

made a comment dealing with the fukushima daiichi accident. >> translator: the guidelines to do not lay out effective measures against the tsunami. we also apologize for inappropriate wording saying it is not necessary to prepare for long-term power loss. >> also spoke about the handling of data from a computer forecasting system called speedy. the system is designed to predict the speed -- spread of radioactive substances. he said it is a misunderstanding to say that a faster evacuation would have been possible.heatshd ve bn sclosed ier. >>> investats e ntg here's more. ctorseuer us ve abou it'sheve t. d rg apegwaedye . . holdn the higled workers. the experienced workers they said treins t t o the pay scale as opposed to ne ursndld banvera of 65% it created another problem, ho to keep the older worker motivated while paying the res so the company introducese y st f ver employee if the performance -- the workers' cage could go up. another concern was the impact the new system would have when hiring new graduates >> the company knew if i refrained fromheouer woer its structure would beco

. >> you are 35 miles from indian point nuclear power plant with twice as much spent fuel as fukushima daiichi and no evacuation plan for new york city. what would you do in a meltdown? >> o'brien: since the nuclear meltdown at fukushima, japan the fight over indian point has grown much more contentious. >> ...how you're all expecting us to take you seriously when you have never, never denied a license extension. >> o'brien: at issue in this controversy are major worries about the evacuation plan and, according to critics, a series of unresolved safety issues. >> indian point's not safe when it doesn't meet safety regulations. right now it doesn't meet safety regulations. those known safety problems need to be fixed. >> o'brien: but proponents argue that new york city needs the energy. it's become a classic new york political brawl. entergy has hired former mayor rudy giuliani to make its ca. >> that's clean, reliable and lower-cost electricity that powers our region and the greatest city on earth. >> o'brien: in the other corner is new york governor andrew cuomo. >> governor andrew cuomo says

the operator of a fukushima daiichi power lant is reprayering for the removal of spent fuel rods starting next year. it will be the first step in a four-year decommissioning plan. tepco says it has found no damage to fuel rods in the number four reactor. tepco released underwater camera video at the number four reactor building. the utility says debris fell on the racks but caused no damage. visibilities is about five meters. the number four reactor was offline when a tsunami and earthquake disabled the plant last march. a hydrogen explosion blew off the roof and sent debris into the pool. the utility plans to further study the inside of the storage pool before removing debris and spent fuel rods. influential u.s. senator carl levin is welcoming the change of course for okinawa. the u.s. and japan have agreed to separate a plan to move thousands of marines from the plant relocate military base. levin chairs the u.s. senate armed services committee. the body oversees defense policy and spending. congress has limited funding for the transfer of marines from okinawa to guam from the budget.

fresh on march 11 when northeast japan was engulfed by a tsunami that caused meltdowns at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant. all across the fukushima region, people's lives will never be the same. well, we're headed towards the village of iitate, which lies somewhere between the city of fukushima and the nuclear power plant. i've been told that radiation levels are somewhat higher today in fukushima. so i rented a geiger counter in boston before leaving on this trip, because they're very hard to come by in japan, right now, for obvious reasons. as the nuclear crisis spiraled out of control, towns surrounding the plant were evacuated. as we approach iitate, the numbers are shooting up now, which is not good for human health. 470. 523. whoa, this is elevated. iitate lies 25 miles northwest of the plant, and it's as close as i'm prepared to go on this trip. it was a farming town before the disaster. but with high radiation levels, tokyo ordered a mandatory evacuation, something that was unthinkable for the mayor, norio kanno. >> werman: the mayor isn't alone. many others told me japanese p

that is the message from the mayor of a town near the fukushima daiichi power plant who wants all evacuees to return home in april. the kawauchi is located 20 miles southwest of the plant. it was evacuated last year after the disaster. all 3,000 residents were forced to leave. the evacuation advisory was lifted in september, but only about 200 people have returned. >> translator: i am making this declaration to ask and encourage residents to return home. i'm determined to overcome hardships. let's create a safe village together. >> the mayor announced the village hall will be operational in march. elementary and high school students will be able to go back to school in april. the nuclear accident forced the evacuation of nine areas. many are worried. they say decontamination work is behind schedule. >> translator: my child wants to go home, but i'm worried about radioactive ty. i have mixed feelings. >> another concern is jobs. there were 95 businesses in the village, but only 35 have reopened since the quake. >> translator: the declaration is only the beginning. i'm not expecting results

bbc news, at the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant. >> with that, in joined by james from the andrew carnegie nuclear policy program. does a the japanese government -- does the japanese government continue to underestimate the threat? but this reactor is stable unless there is another huge earthquake -- >> this reactor is stable unless there's another huge earthquake or tsunami. there has been one major earthquake or tsunami about every 1000 years. is quite unlikely to be another one in the immediate future. that is the risk, a freak earthquake or tsunami. >> but the chance is minimal? that is somewhat reassuring. what about the information that the report says was being withheld at the time? could that be a gain changer? >> i think it is hard to know whether the japanese government deliberately withheld information, or whether information was withheld because it was a major disaster? the flow of information after a major accident can be very hard. people are not necessarily lying or dissembling. information does not flow as well as it should do. i think it could be an important investigation

nuclear watch brings you insight and information on the impact of the fukushima daiichi crisis. and the road ahead examines japan's efforts to recover and rebuild. don't miss nuclear watch and the road ahead on "newsline." >> parents in disaster hit fukushima prefecture now can monitor in realtime radiation levels at schools, parks and other places froo frequently visited by their children. the education ministry on tuesday launched the system for sharing data from 2,700 monitors on its website. users can check the radiation levels. it brings up a list of 368 monitoring sites and their current readings. the system can show average radiation levels at ten minute intervals and graphs shows changes in radiation at chosen sites. all nuclear reactors in western japan are now offline. the last plant in operation has been shut down for a routine inspection. residents are worrying about a power shortage. japan's fuel imports are soaring. nationwide only two of 54 nuclear reactors are still running. the shutdown was completed sunday for the number three reactor, the last two reactors stil

." >>> workers at fukushima daiichi are trying to cool the plant's number two reactor. they are injecting water into the facility but the temperature remains high. spokes persons maintain it is in a state of cold shutdown. tokyo electric power company issues say a thermometer at the bottom of the reactor monday read above 73 degrees celsius. the temperature has risen more than 20 degrees in the past four days. spokespersons say two other thermometers stayed at 44 degrees. tepco has been injecting more than ten tons of water per hour into the reactor. spokespersons say the temperature rise indicates the flow of water may have changed direction after plumbing work was carried out, disrupting a cooling system. but they maintain radioactive xennan hasn't been detected in gases around the reactor, and that nuclear criticality is not taking place. they say workers will increase the amount of water injected into the reactor to see if it cools. now, the japanese government has decided to review donation practices at power companies. utilities donate money to projects where thei

is highly critical of how japan's leaders acted in the hours and days of the accident at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant. it calls their response off the cuff. and too late. the six experts on the panel base their findings on interviews with 300 people including top ranking japanese and american officials. they spent months studying the response to the fukushima accident which happened after last year's march 11th earthquake and tsunami. they tried interviewing authorities at tokyo electric power company, the operator of the plant, but tepco turned down their request. >> translator: is direct causes of the nuclear accident where the unpreparedness of tokyo electric power for a serious accident ant the government's lack of responsibility. >> it rendered the crisis management manual useless. the report says the problem was compounded by lack of basic legal knowledge. it urges immediate debate on improving the situation. the report condemns nuclear and industrial safety agency from failing to give professionals proper safety training. it says the agency cannot drop plans to put the plan

we came here the day the fukushima daiichi plant in japan melted down. plant officials were eager to reassure the public the same thing could not happen here. is this plant safe? >> absolutely. this plant is safe. >> reporter: after japan, the nuclear regulatory commission updated its seismic model. and a report issued found that 96 reactors in the central and southern u.s. are in regions at higher risk of a quake than previously thought. this event is likely just faulty equipment. plant officials are assuring the public and the workers it's not in danger. people are underbly nervous after what happened in japan. david wright, abc news. >>> u.s. combat troops could leave afghanistan by the end of next year under a new military plan. that's about 18 months sooner than expected. trainers and advisers will remain in the country through 2014. the approach is similar to the one used to end u.s. military involvement in iraq. >>> and egypt is in mourning right now following a deadly riot at a soccer match. at least 74 people were killed. hundreds injured. it st

. >>> almost a year after the accident, the situation at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant remains serious. earlier this week, journalists were allowed in the plant first time since it was brought to a state of cold shut down. in today's "nuclear watch," we bring updates from the site. >> reporter: journalists were given a one-hour tour of the plant. the bus drove on a road parallel to the coastline. on the right are the turbine buildings for reactors 1 through 4. the radiation level was 300 micro seefrts per hour. then 300 near the number three building. here, reporters were allowed to get off the bus. >> translator: i'm standing on a hill 300 meters south of the number four reactor building. radiation level here is 50 microsieverts per hour. workers in the plant are exposed to higher levels of radiation. some workers were clearing debris on the roof of the number four reactor building that was damaged. the work is to prepare for removal of spent fuel from the storage pool which will start next year. about 3,000 people work in the plant every day. some have had to stop working bec

they say that the nuclear accident at the fukushima daiichi plant is to blame for the number of children in the prefecture. it says smaller children are more vulnerable to radiation and are likely have been sent to other prefectures. >>> last year's massive earthquake destroyed his long time workplace. he found a new home for brewing his premium products. >> the glittering heart of tokyo. a new sake bar opened here in january. some of the most popular sake at this bar is from the japan sea coast. >> they have excellent rice and water, that's why it makes such great sake. we want as many as possible to try it. >> some of the sake served at the bar comes from this small brewery in the town. the first step in sake making is to wash the rice. the brew master has been making sake for 37 years. he says the quality of finished sake depends how long the rice soaks in the water. he times each batch precisely. until last year, he worked at a brewery in miyagi prefecture. march 11, he was spreading the steamed rice when the massive earthquake hit. >> i was in the rice culturing chamber. the rice wa

. >>> workers at fukushima daiichi are trying to cool the plant's number two reactor. they are injecting water into the facility but the temperature remains high. spokes persons maintain it is in a state of cold shutdown. tokyo electric power company issues say a thermometer at the bottom of the reactor monday read above 73 degrees celsius. the temperature has risen more than 20 degrees in the past four days. spokespersons say two other thermometers stayed at 44 degrees. tepco has been injecting more than ten tons of water per hour into the reactor. spokespersons say the temperature rise indicates the flow of water may have changed direction after plumbing work was carried out, disrupting a cooling system. but they maintain radioactive zen in hasn't been detected in gases around the reactor, and that nuclear criticality is not taking place. they say workers will increase the amount of water injected into the reactor to see if it cools. now, the japanese government has decided to review donation practices at power companies. utilities donate money to projects where thei

"nuclear watch" brings you insight and information on the impact of the fukushima daiichi crisis. and "the road ahead" examines japan's efforts to recover and rebuild. don't miss "nuclear watch" and "the road ahead" on "newsline. >>> thousands of runners are resting up for japan's largest marathon. they're loading up on carbohydrates and checking their gear for the tokyo marathon. some of them will leave a key piece of equipment behind. >> reporter: yoshino may look like any other runner until you look at his feet. burning hot or freezing cold aspht, bumpy or smooth pavement, for barefoot runner yoshino, no problem. >> if you run like the way you run with your shoes, it hurts. but because you feel the ground, you kind of have to adjust to the ground. with the shoes, you're going against the ground. >> i see. so you're slamming against it as opposed to landing softly. >> yeah. >> reporter: yoshino studied biomechanics in the united states for three years. 12 years ago he began running. but in 2004 he threw aside his shoes. he soon became an evangelist for barefoot running. he retur

the operator of a fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant is reprayering for the removal of spent fuel rods starting next year. it will be the first step in a four-year decommissioning plan. the tokyo electric power company says it has found no damage to fuel rods in the number four reactor, which will be the first to be removed. tepco released underwater video at the number four reactor building. the video shows debris fell on to the rack containing the spent fuel rods, but caused no damage. the company says visibility is about five meters. the number four reactor was offline when an aert quake and tsunami disabled the plant last march. however ark hydrogen explosion blew off the roof and sent wreckage into the storage pool make it difficult to assess is condition of the contents. the utility plans to study the inside of the storage pool before removing debris. influential u.s. senator carl levin is backing the change of course for okinawa. the u.s. and japan have agreed to separate a plant to move personnel from a military base. levin chairs the u.s. senate armed services committee.

the document says the director of fukushima daiichi informed the government three days after the accident that cooling system failures could cause a meltdown of nuclear fuel rods. the information was reportedly sent to cabinet members and atomic energy experts. then-economy minister yukio edano was also chief cabinet secretary. he says in the report that authorities were on stand-by to act if the fuel rods continued to be exposed to the air. that would have released a large amount of radioactive material and prevented workers from entering reactor buildings. edano also says he feared problems could occur at another plant in fukushima and that tokyo might have to be evacuated. he says the cabinet was told of this scenario but na the government chose not to make it public. the independent report stresses the need for discussions on how the government disclosing information during emergencies. >>> russia's state television says security services have foiled a plot to assassinate prime minister vladimir putin. channel one says two men have confessed. they were arrested last month in ukraine.