>> researchers at fukushima university carried out the study. they found many evacuees in the early 30s or younger are skeptical about going home. the survey asked residents whether they want to return home and if they do, what's needed for that to happen. it also asked how they are living now. researchers contacted all of the 28,000 households in the eight towns and villages surrounding fukushima daiichi. those residents left their homes immediately after the nuclear accident. about half of them responded to the survey. one question asked whether evacuees hope to return to their original home. about one in four or 27% of respondents said they have no interception of going back. 73% said they will return home if certain conditions are met. the survey also asked respondents while they are reluctant to return home. 83% cited the difficulty of decontaminating their town or village. 66% said they don't believe the government when it says things will be safe. 61% said they don't believe the nuclear crisis will be resolved. >> so some skepticism there

fukushima university associate professor says local governments should pay attention to these comments. >> translator: the survey results show evacuees long to return home. the government needs to do something to keep their hopes alive. >> the survey revealed the unemployment rate for evacuees has doubled to 55% since the nuclear accident. the government must create jobs, repair infrastructure and improve other living conditions so people can go back to living a normal life. >> nhk world's junia yabuchi there. >>> time to check on some of the stories we've gathered from broadcasters around asia. we begin with this item sent by irib in iran. iranian lawmakers on wednesday voted to downgrade diplomatic ties with britain after the country imposed sanctions on iran's central bank. an influential lawmaker said britain had acted vindictively and called for the british ambassador to be expelled. britain and the u.s. imposed new sanctions on iran's banking and energy sectors after the united nations nuclear agency's recent report on tehran's nuclear program. >>> in thailand, almost 4,000 worke

fukushima university associate professor says local governments should pay attention to these comments. >> translator: the survey results show evacuees long to return home. the government needs to do something to keep their hopes alive. >> the unemployment rate doubled to 55% since the nuclear accident. the government must create jobs, repair infrastructure and improve other living conditions so people can go back to living a normal life. >>> "newsline" is the place to turn to for the latest on japan, post march 11th. we have two segments offering two unique perspectives on the fallout from the earthquake and tsunami. 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." >>> time to check on some of the stories we gathered from broadcasters around asia. >>> time to check on some of the stories we've gathered from broadcasters around asia. we begin with this item sent by irib in iran. iranian lawmakers on wednesday voted to

one of the speakers was fukushima university medical professor seiji yasimura. he is in charge of conducting a survey on the health of residents in fukushima prefecture following the nuclear disaster. but professor yasimura warned that the budget for the survey is not sufficient and may run out. he also said that few people are filling out the surveys that would help him estimate levels of radiation exposure. he said help is needed. iaea deputy director general daoud mohammed said the agency will provide all possible support to fukushima prefecture if requested. >>> a popular blogger from china is visiting central japan to help promote the area and lure back chinese tourists. japan is a favorite destination for many chinese travelers, but their numbers have fallen sharply since the march 11th disaster. song jun runs a blog that's visited by about 10 million people every year. he was invited to japan by officials from three prefectures near tokyo to write about their top spots. local residents guided song as he visited the city of koshu in yamanashi prefecture. th

university. he took a leave of absence after the march 11th earthquake to lecture at fukushima medical university. the professor educates people in the area about the dangers of radiation. he draws a line between the effects of the atomic bombs and those of the accident at fukushima. the atomic bombs released high levels of radiation, killing thousands of people instantly. survivors struggle with severe health problems. he says the radiation from fukushima has been much lower. researchers still don't know the extent of health problems there. still, many parents worry about long term effects on their children. >> please assist and help fukushima. thank you very much for your attention. >> he wants to help train radiation experts so that they can work in other countries. >> translator: how can we temper the power of science? i think that the nuclear accident in fukushima will help the cause to eradicate nuclear weapons. >> he says he is committed to that cause. he wants to create an organization that connects communities in hiroshima and nagasaki with the one in fukushima. he hopes education will t

>> reporter: she took a leave of absence after the march 11th earthquake to lecture at fukushima medical university. the professor educate people in the area about the dangers of radiation. he draw as line between the effects of the atomic bombs and those of the accident at fukushima. the atomic bombs released high levels of radiation, killing thousands of people instantly. survivors struggle with severe health problems. yamashida says the radiation from fukushima has been much lower. researchers still don't know the extent of health problems there. still, many parents worry about the long-term effects on their children. >> over its mission of yradio phobia. thank you very much for your attention. >> he wants to help train radiation experts so that they can work in other countries. >> translator: how can we temper the power of science? i think that the nuclear accident in fukushima will help the cause to eradicate nuclear weapons. >> yamashida says he's committed to that cause. he wants to create an organization that connects communities in hiroshima and nagasaki with the one in fukushima. he hopes

one of the speakers was fukushima medical university professor seiji yasumura. in charge of conducting a survey on the health of residents in fukushima prefecture following the nuclear disaster. professor yasumura warned that the budget for the survey is not sufficient and may run out. he also said that few people are filling out the surveys that would help him estimate levels of radiation exposure. he said help is needed. iaea general director daud mohammed said the agency will provide all possible support to fukushima prefecture if requested. >>> tokyo had been experiencing cold weather the pt couple days, but we're having a mild thursday morning. let's take a look at the global weather forecast with sayak sayaka mori. >> let's start over east az xwrap the pacific side of japan is looking at nice and sunny weather, but the opposite side of the country is dealing with very stormy conditions. a strong low pressure system is bringing strong winds, heavy rain and thunderstorms across the western flank of japan. this is still developing, so it will produce blowing

researchers at fukushima medical university study the results. hiroki spoke to one of them about his work. >> reporter: professor, you study the internal affects of radiation and you have to spend sometime explaining the effects to the residents. what does the science tell you? >> at this point there's been no data indicating exposure levels that would affect human health. to give you a specific example, some residents evacuated after the accident were tested using hard body counters but the levels detected cannot be considered harmful. they want more precise information. local government authorities have responded by acquiring more counters and are moving forward with the tests. >> reporter: we have spent some time since the disaster comparing the accident at fukushima with the one at chernobyl. what are the main differences? >> internally, the nuclear reactor exploded releasing radioactive materials. the report said 28 people lost their lives because of acute radiation syndrome. in fukushima there was a hydrogen explosion but not the reactors t

thyroid checkups for children were only available at fukushima medical university. the prefectural government decided to help family s living far away from the university. >> translator: i think it's very good. i'll feel better after i get the results. >> the tests will include about 360,000 children in the prefecture who were 18 years old or younger on april 1st. this was about 20 days after the accident. >>> radioactive iodine released from the nuclear plant could accumulate in the thyroid glands of children and raise their risk of developing cancer. children in the prefecture will undergo checks every two years until they turn 20. after this, the checks will be once every five years. >>> japanese prime minister noda is being cautious on committing to talks on the trans-pacific partnership. so far he's just consulting with the nine nations already on board. that includes the united states. noda spoke about the tpp at the asia-pacific cooperation summit in hawaii. >> translator: we explained japan's decision to start consulting with countries involved with the tpp.

researchers at fukushima medical university studied the results. hick oaki spoke with one of them about his work. >> reporter: professor, you study the internal effects of radiation and you have spent some time explaining those effects to worried residents. ha does the science tell you? >> at this point there have been no data indicating exposure levels that would affect human health. to give you a specific example, some residents of iitate village, a municipality evacuated after the accident were tested using whole-body counters. but the level detected cannot be considered harmful. they want more precise information. local government authorities have responded by acquiring five full body counters and steadily moving forward with the tests. >> we have spent some time since the disaster comparing the accident at fukushima with the one at chernobyl. what in your view are the main differences? >> uh-huh. in chernobyl, the nuclear reactor itself exploded. that led to a massive release of radioactive materials. united nations researchers report 28 peopl

. >> the professor of tokyo university of marine science and technology. he looked at fish off fukushima. theyate it near the sea floor that are contaminated by radioactive substances. he conducted his survey in the area four months ago. he found low levels of star fish and sand worms. larger fish eat the creatures. the substances rise 10-fold in the fish and exceeds the legal limit of 500 beck rals per kilogram. >> sand worms and serpentent star fish eat organic matter in the mud. radioactive substances are passed on to bigger fish and it takes a long time for that to help. high levels are still found in the fish. >> the concentration of radioactive substances in star fish last month was only 1/10 of what it was in the first survey. they declosreased only 40%. the contamination is likely to affect marine for sometime to come. >> our reporter explains how long it will take the radiation released from fukushima to spread in the pacific ocean. >> fishery cooperatives in the prefecture decided to postpone the test operations it planned for this month. on the other hand, the concentration of

fukushima. well just last week a report by a consortium of european universities but with an american partner on the study has put out new figures they have again doubled the amount of radioactivity estimated to have been released now the levels in doubled since well since june first when they doubled it before so now we're talking quadruple what the tokyo electric power company admitted to earlier on back in march and april and what are these figures looking like we're looking at two and a half times the radioactive xenon one thirty three released by turn oval so in that sense it's worse than eternal and surnames of radioactive cesium one thirty seven they're still saying about forty percent of what was released by turn. so this again is a global catastrophe the response on the grounds in japan includes an occupation of the ministry of energy trade and industry in tokyo. by women from maxie if by women from fukushima two hundred women from fukushima began this occupation the sit down action on october twenty seventh and then on the thirtieth they called for women across japan and internationall

. >> professor takashi ishimoto of tokyo university of mari science and technology, studies marine biology. he has looked at fish off fukushima. they eat sand and starfish that are contaminated by radioactive substances. he conducted his first survey four months ago and found low levels of cesium in serpent starfish and in sand worms. larger fish eat those creatures. he said the concentration of radioactive substances rises ten fold inside the fish and exceeds the legal limit of 500 becquerels per kilogram. >> translator: sand worms and serpent starfish eat organic matter in the mud. through the creatures, radioactive substances are passed on to bigger fish. it takes a long time for that to happen. high levels of cesm are still found in the fish. >> reporter:heoncentration of radioactiveubstans in serpenstarfish last month was only one-tenth of what it was in the first survey. radio activity in sandworms decreased only 40%. fish feed on sandworms so the contamination is likely to affect marine life for some time to come. >> our reporter spent three days at the research ship and joins us now with more on what he found in that