japanese prime minister naoto kan in france to attend the group of eight summit met with french president nicolas sarkozy on wednesday. sarkozy expressed respect for how japanese people behaved in the wake of the march 11th earthquake and tsunami and said full french support would continue. the french president then proposed strategic dialogue to strengthen bilateral ties. the talks revealed a difference in views on energy policy. kan says he wants to boost the ratio of solar power and other renewable energies while continuing to use nuclear power, though with stronger safety measures. sarkozy replied that it is not a question of choosing one out of two options. nuclear power or not nuclear power. but he agreed that heightening the safety of nuclear plants is important. >>> in europe the position on nuclear energy is divided. while germany has taken steps away from nuclear power, france remains optimistic about the potential. [ speaking in a foreign language ] >>> president nicolas sarkozy stressed that france will continue using nuclear power as the best choice even after the incident at

>> prime minister naoto kan gave a speech at the first meeting on thursday titled solidarity of japan. it marked the first time in the summit's 36-year history that a known chair country made a speech at the beginning of the meeting. kan pledged to investigate the nuclear accident and swiftly provide results to the international community. he also proposed that japan host an international conference on nuclear safety next year. >> having said that, some countries suspect japan is not worth coming about the nuclear crisis. are we seeing any negative impact here in japan because of that suspicion? >> over the past couple of months more than 60 countries have banned or put restrictions on imports from japan. the government says food exports decreased 22.8% compared to the same time last year. the head of the g-8 summit the chinese premier wen jiabao and the south korean president lee myung-bak visited japan. part of the trip was showing japanese agricultural products are safe. china and south korea are supporting japan because they are also promoting nuclear power. >> is prime minister k

what is prime minister naoto kan saying about that? >> he's mot not saying much about that actually. that's another reason why he's facing criticism. he seems to be leaving that up to one company. chubu electric said it can meet demand of 25,600 megawatts if hamaoka shuts. relying on plants to fill the power gap would push up costs by about $9 million a day. how those costs will be covered is not yet known. in addition, an unusually hot summer would raise the risk of chubu not having enough capacity to meet peak demand. which could cause problems for toyota motor corporation and other major manufacturers with factories in the region. that would be a big economic issue for the entire country. kan as prime minister should show his plan about a potential shift in energy policy as soon as possible. >> some say the prime minister did not go through the proper legal procedures to request the suspension sp is that true? >> yeah, that's right. he did not ask the government experts such as the nuclear safety commission to make a scientific conc

. >>> prime minister naoto kan has asked a utility firm to halt the operations of all active reactors at the hamaoka power plant in central japan. he made the request because of concerns about the risk of a mega earthquake. the hamaoka plant is located 180 kilometers southwest of tokyo. it lies directly above the projected focus of a magnitude 8 earthquake that experts have long warned of. kan made the request on friday after assessing the plant's safety measures against earthquake and tsunamis. >> translator: the reason for my request is as follows. i've made this request out of consideration for the safety and reassurance of the japanese people. if there were to be a serious accident at the hamaoka nuclear power plant, this could become catastrophic in the impact to all of japan. and i've taken those factors into consideration in making this request. the earthquake research committee at the ministry of education and science has said that over the next 30 years the likelihood of an earthquake with a magnitude of eight or more is 87%. so the tokai earthquake could occur with a likelih

six prime ministers, and so the hope was that all of the parliamentary members would get behind naoto kanhind them, that the vacuum would disappear. that's not what we're seeing this week. just today we saw a slew of bad economic data from unemployment to the number of jobs available for people, but the big story this week out of japan is whether or not there's going to be a no confidence motion put forward in parliament. basically what this no confidence vote would mean is that the lawmakers would be saying -- these are mainly his political opponents, not just the opposition party but with his own party that say, we do not believe in you. we don't approve of your handling of this crisis and the pressure would be for him to step down. again, when you look at the revolving door of the prime minister's office, the leader gets there, you don't have a chance for the paint to the dry before you have to fight for your job. the concern is there's going to be a continuing lack of policy in an economy that's been struggling now trying to deal with a huge crisis. >> it's a great point. i mean, this

prime minister naoto kan asked the company that runs the plant to hold operations of active reactors. he said the government will review its energy policy. >> translator: under the current energy policy, by the year 2030 more than 50% of japan's electricity will come from nuclear power generation. 20% by renewable energy resources. however, we now have to go back to the drawing board and conduct a fundamental review of the nation's basic energy policy. >> reporter: kan said japan's energy policy is dependent on nuclear power and fossil fuels, but that it's time to shift to renewable energy sources such as solar, wind power and biomass fuels. >> earlier we spoke about japan's energy policy. >> reporter: the government says it will shift its focus on renewable energy sources. how likely is it that this plan will succeed? >> last month the environment ministry issued the results of a study of the potential of renewable energy sources. it says wind power could cover 70% of japan's electricity needs. a big problem is the suspected link between wind turbines and poor health. residents in t

no-confidence motions being set up by the liberal democratic opposition party against prime minister naoto kan. the nikkei dipped back into the negative by one point. a little bit of volatility we are seeing in the first few minutes of trading. nikkei in the negative and topix in the positive. >> thank you. that was our reporter at the tokyo stock exchange. >>> standard and poor's slashed its credit rating of tokyo electric power company. they cite huge losses an unclear compensation plan for the downgrade. standard and poor's downgraded tepco's rating to single b plus. they posted huge losses for the business year ending in march and the framework to help pay damages are unclear. a single b plus is considered a high risk investment. tepco says it is striving to contain the situation at the fukushima plant, while it continues to streamline its business and restore its image. moody's japan cut tepco's credit rating by two notches and will put the utility on review for a further possibility downgrade. let's get you a recap of the latest market figures. >>> that's all from me for this hour. back

the chubu power company decided on monday to comply with prime minister naoto kan's request to suspend operation of all of the reactors in the plant. >> translator: we're taking the request from the prime minister very seriously. we need to prioritize safety. the very base of nuclear power. >> translator: i am very relieved that they accepted the request. the government will support companies so that there is no lack of electricity, and will deal with any power shortage problems. >>> the company says that the decision will force it to stop supplying power to eastern japan, which it started doing when the tokyo electric power company couldn't meet the need because of the trouble at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant. the company estimates it will lose about 12% of its power supply after the hamaoka shutdown. the firm will ask another power company, its counterpart in western japan, to supplement power supplies during the period. but tepco is also seeking supplies from others to fill a gap of 100 kilowatts of power created by chubu electric's decision. >>> a u.n. climate panel say

. >>> japan's leading opposition parties are trying to bring down prime minister naoto kan's government. members of liberal democratic parties are planning to submit a no confidence motion by the end of the week. kan has been facing strong criticism over his response to the ongoing crisis at the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant. the parties confirmed their decision on monday during talks between their secretaries general and diet affairs chief. the ldp leader will decide the timing of the motion. but he says tanigaki wants to coordinate with the new cometo party. the new cometo secretary general agreed to consult with party members so it can be submitted jointly. both leaders agreed to grill prime minister kan over his handling of the nuclear crisis. they also plan to call on other opposition parties to back the no-confidence motion. >> translator: under the kan administration it would be difficult to further proceed with the reconstruction of the disaster areas. given these circumstances, we are determined to make the prime minister take responsibility for his failings and take charge o

. >>> prime minister naoto kan will leave for france on tuesday to attend the g-8 summit where he's expected to discuss nuke safety. the meeting will take place in normandy on may 26th and 27th. it will be the prime minister's first trip overseas since the march 11th earthquake and tsunami. during the six-day visit to europe, kan wants to convey that japan is a safe country despite the disasters. deputy chief cabinetecretary fukuyama said the prime minister will emphasize the country's readiness to disclose information about the events at the fukushima daiichi plant. the prime minister will explain japan's new energy policy which increases its focus on renewable energy and energy saving. kan plans to meet french president nicolas sarkozy and u.s. president barack obama on the sidelines of the summit. the prime minister will also meet leaders of the eu to discuss the launch of negotiations on an economic partnership agreement. >>> thjapanese foreign minister says japan will cooperate with tunisia in human resource training and building infrastructure to support its transition to democracy. ma

japan's prime minister naoto kan and chinese premier wen jiabao and south korean prime minister lee myung-bak will hold talks on saturday. nhk world's hiroki najima is in studio to guide us through all this. now, hiroki, the leaders are expected to make a statement of cooperation on nuclear safety. what do you make of this statement? >> well, south korea and china want to make sure that prime minister kan's administration gives them sufficient information if something happens at fukushima daiichi. the japanese government didn't notify neighboring countries before radioactive water from the plant was released into the ocean in april. south korea criticized it, saying that violated international law. but japan said it followed protocol by informing the international atmospheric energy agency of the release in advance. china also expressed concern about the impact the contaminated water would have on the environment. so both countries are urging japan to provide up-to-date information without delay. >> let's put aside this fukushima nuclear accident issue for a minute. could this meeting be a go

but prime minister naoto kan said today the focus will shift instead to alternative sources and conservation. >> following the major accident, we will scrap the energy policy and start from scratch. we will thoroughly ensure safety for nuclear power generation and make efforts to further promote renewable energy. >> sreenivasan: the fukushima dai-ichi nuclear power plant was badly damaged in the march disaster. it leaked radiation over a wide area, and 80,000 people had to leave a 12-mile exclusion zone. a federal appeals court in san francisco issued a sharp rebuke to the u.s. veterans affairs department today. the court accused the v.a. of "unchecked incompetence" in handling post-traumatic stress disorder and other conditions. it ordered the v.a. to work out a new mental health care plan with two veterans groups that brought suit. the ruling was unanimous. in economic news, general motors announced it's adding some 4,000 jobs at 17 u.s. plants. the company said it will hire new employees and call back hundreds of furloughed workers over the next year and a half. and wall street made some