this is a mockup of the daiichi facility.he students will build robots to help with decommissioning the plant. the machines will compete against each other at the mockup. the contestants must create a robot that can work within the current environment of the nuclear plant. because the plant has thick walls, the robots can't be controlled by wireless signals. they have to work in the dark, operated remotely. and because of the high radiation levels, cameras and semiconductors will only work for a short time unless they are covered up. each team has to choose between operating their robot over rough terrain or climbing up stairs. and it has to carry an object or survey the surrounding area. >> translator: working with practical restrictions makes it more interesting. >> translator: i want to apply what i've learned at school in a place where this technology is needed the most. >> reporter: a team from fukushima is developing a robot that can carry objects up stairs. >> translator: we're the closest school to the power plant. we

japanese government estimates it will take more than 40 years to decommission the crippled fukushima daiichiuclear plant. one e challenge is to encourage young peoplele to become engines and researchers to continunue t process. so a network of technological institutes has held a robotic competition to spark interest. nhk world has more. >> reporter: students from technology colleges around japan are developing robots for decommissioning the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant. the machines will compete each other. the contestants must create a robot that can work within the current environment ofof the nuclear planant. because e e plant has s thick walls, the r robots can't be controed b by relelessignals. ththeyave e toork in t d dark, erated remotely and becausof highgh radtion levels cames and semicouctors will only work for s short te e unss th are cered up. each team has to choose between operating their robot over rough terrain or climbing upstairs and it has to carry an object or survey the surrounding area. >> translator: working with practical restrictions makes it more interestin

. >> the japanese government has raised the crisis level at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant from 5 to 7. >> the confirmed death toll continues to climb. >> hundreds of thousands fled the radiation. many are still unable to return home.e. propery damages and cleanup costs may run over $250 billion. >> the operator of the disabled fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant has agreed to make provisional damage payments to residents living around the plant. >> what if it happened in the united states? who would pay? a catastrophe like fukushima could erase all existing insurance protection under federal law. it makes the u.s. liability compensation system look grossly inadequate. there are 104 nuclear power plants in the u.s. spread across 31 states. they produce 20% of our electrical power. they all carry some insurance against a nuclear accident, but the combined total coverage is only $12.6 billion. beyond that, americans would be uninsured... or as the insurance industry puts it, naked. >> if you have to evacuate a very large city, or tens or hundreds of thousands of people are

the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant was crippled by a massive quake and tsunami in 2011. its operator has estimated that two fault lines in the area could cause a quake with the magnitude of up to 7.1. he says november's ququake was actually much stronger than that. >> translalator: i think a faul could expose the seabed.d. we should studydy it and need t review t the way we collect dat and how we assess it. i believe that could improve our analysis. >> a spokesperson for tepco says the utility will review its estimates if new information comes to light. >>> rush hour traffic was brought to a halt at a tokyo intersection on tuesday morning because of a car accident. four people were injured, one of them seriously. >> reporter: the taxi jumps on to the sidewalk. many people were walking at the time of the accident. this is a very busy area inn tokyo. right nowow policemen are guidi traffic. >> police say video from the taxi's dash cam shows it collided with a nearby vehicle while trying to change lanes. the collision forced the taxi on to the sidewalk. the injured were tak

japanese government has decided to lift the ceiling for loans to the operator of the crippled fukushima daiichiuclear plant. the fund's upper limit will be raised to $123 billion from the current $79 billion to deal with mounting costs. the government now estimates the facility will end up costing tokyo electric power company more than $190 billion total. $70 billion of that will go to decommissioning the plant which suffered meltdowns after a massive quake and tsunami in 2011. that cost is four times the original estimate. compensation for farmers and others are expected to rise to $70 billion. and over $50 billion will be used for decontaminating and storing contaminated soil and waste materials. the government plans to have tepco and other utilities pay back the loans interest free. the decision may result in higher electricity bills for households. >>> in china, most garbage is dumped without being sorted. independent scrap collectors have helped deal with the longstanding problem, but falling prices of recyclables means they barely manage to get by. now a new recycling business looks set t

the operator of the damaged fukushima daiichi power plant estimated in 2014 that two fault lines could cause a quake with a magnitude of up to 7.1. toda says it's important to improve the method of analysis since the quake was more powerful than the utility's estimate. >> translator: i think a fault could expose the seabed. we should study it and need to review the way we collect data and how we assess it. i believe that could improve our analysis. >> tepco says it will review its estimates if necessarily. >>> railway operators in northern japan are having trouble maintaining their routes. j.r. hokkaido says there aren't enough passengers to keep half of them in motion. they shut down one section sunday that's been in operation for nearly 100 years. and as nhk world reports, others could soon follow. >> reporter: the platform is packed with people, and the cars are crowded with passengers. if only maske station looked like this every day. but this is the last time it will see trains, and everyone here has come to say good-bye. >> translator: i just wanted to convey my appreciation. tha