and radio japan's nuclear safety agency though saying tonight to try and alleviate this problem and to alleviate that pressure inside the containment vessel where the during which holds it was really in place in case there is an accident they'll have to release of radioactive vapor into the atmosphere but they're also stressing that it poses no risk to humans all the environment pointing out that you have fifty five reactor is providing a third of the nation's electricity. well those little warning that an earthquake of this size will hit the pacific was spoke of a city to itself from the center of a tsunami research he says it's not surprising as there is a long way to go before an effective earthquake alert system is in place it's a big disaster and it was no question there were never just like that happens we all want to see what can be done more to different things to predict tsunamis are very severe a natural phenomenon there was a lot can be done in terms of the population or all over probably but sometimes for too long a forecast we develop into a lot of work a system that is pa

the nuclear safety agency is reporting a unit to explosion. ne of the nuclear power plant's unit #2

inside the reactor has been rising tonight raising fears of a radiation leak however japan's nuclear safety agency says to try and reduce the pressure on radio that through the very top may be released and that poses no risk to humans or the environment but. well just after the quake hit we had a chance to speak to an eyewitness who was in the capital tokyo. i was working at home and suddenly thoughts like sharks i didn't know what to do sit at home on leave and the moment i saw a message on the screen of my t.v. it said that in twenty seconds there would be an earthquake that i jumped up and it was shaking oh how to pass in france is what i live in a crowded district of the city there weren't many people just only ones with parents and young parents with children yesterday my neighbor's daughter had there for me yogi quake happening we tried to call home but most of our connection was lost although the epicenter was far away from tokyo i felt like i was in a ship while it rocked it seemed like everything around we crashed it was happening all day every time i returned home it started again it's t

years of the possible meltdown and the nuclear safety agency says it's collecting information about the blast it's still unclear where exactly it occurred why and again the extent of the damage is unclear but what we do know some of the information trickling in the roof of the fukushima reactor has collapsed and radioactivity is said to be rising rapidly all residents living within a twenty kilometer radius of the nuclear plant are being evacuated just to remind you about the precautions the government is taking it was a ten kilometer radius now it's extended to a twenty kilometer radius people are asked to evacuate and they are also being urged to a save electricity amid fears of power supply cots and earlier a state of emergency was declared at five nuclear reactors after the generators pumping cooling water had failed it had failed because following an earthquake eight point nine magnitude earthquake that struck on friday afternoon and then there was a tsunami a massive tsunami that followed well evacuations have been taking place thousands of residents have already been moved amid f

sematech so informations is even being publicly questioned by japan's nuclear safety agency, several ter tyco announced levels of iodine 134 in the turbine room of reactor to were 10 million times higher than normal. japan's nuclear safety agency said, we feel the data made public by tackle today it is a bit strange and a bit odd. i have been told tech coach is going to reevaluate the numbers. confusing an already confused public. paula, cnn, tokyo. >>vicki: barry bonds trial starts up again tomorrow. for what issue you key witnesses that could prove bad for the former player. and coming up britney spears in the spirit of for fans. hey marcel, watch this! hey marcel, watch this! [ buzzer sounds ] [ cheers and applause ] ♪ hey marcel, watch this! yeah, marcel! -marcel! -hey marcel! are you listening to me? marcel! [ male announcer ] don't miss a second of ncaa march madness with my multiview, only from at&t u-verse. just $29 a month for the first 6 months. dvr included. in the network there are no hard choices. >>vicki: several key witnesses are expected to take the stand in the barry

let's turn our attention to japan or the nuclear and industrial safety agency has announced that the level of radioactive iodine in the sea of japan's fukushima nuclear plant is 3355 times above the legal limit. a state of maximum alert was declared after highly radioactive uranium was found near the plant. we speak to our correspondent in tokyo. levels in the sea are now causing grave concern? >> this is the strongest indication that highly radioactive water that has been discovered within the buildings and outside the buildings he is somehow leaking into the sea. a level of radioactive iodine was detected and considerably higher than any we have been told about so far. almost twice as high. we were told that the measurements taken during the course of yesterday, it was a steadily increasing. it must be said that the nuclear safety agency had stressed that it is a very localized reading taken off the shore of the fukushima plant. they say it will have dissipated and deteriorated considerably by the time that it reaches populated areas. readings taken further down the coast have detec

that is according to the nuclear safety agency. the problem is it's not known how it got there in the first place. whether or not there's a leak there within the plant or not. or what not it was in the atmosphere and came down as rain. it does appear as though radioactivity from the plant is slightly lower. officials also don't know why the contaminated water, 10,000 times the level was in reactors 3. we also understand this saturday it has also been in reactor one. some good news, fresh water is being used to douse the reactor's one-two and three rather than salt water. experts say it's a positive move because it means it's less corot's of and there will be such as salt buildup. paulette, cnn. >>vicki: tipping the balance of power in libya. will take a look at the important city that rebels have now taken over. coming up. [ coach ] in albuquerque, citi pre-approved my mortgage. [ whistle blows ] all right, layups, guys. let's go. in sioux falls, i locked in a rate. coach, you get that house yet? working on it. [ coach ] the apprai

this morning, the nuclear safety agency has raised the severity level at fukushima daiichi from a 4 to a 5 on a scale where 7 is the equivalent of chernobyl. they are asking u.s. officials for help. military fire trucks including one borrowed from the u.s. have reportedly been able to reach the cooling pool in building 3 with some water this morning. meanwhile, more than 16,000 people have been confirmed dead or missing since the quake struck. now, the latest on the nuclear part of the crisis. >> japanese government officials are cautiously optimistic about the fukushima daiichi power plant in northern japan. they connected the cooling equipment to a diesel generator allowing them to pump sea water in. they expect to have another pump to cool another two. >> the work is continuing to put water into the power plant. at the same time, effort is going on to evaluate the results of yesterday's work. >> reporter: and the team continued operations at the facility's most troubled reactor. they doused number three with water cannons and dropped water from the air with helicopters. on thursday,

. >>> the nuclear and safety agency here in japan said on a news conference on saturday morning said they detected nuclear levels considerably higher than yesterday. >> translator: according to typical sea water analysis, iodine levels at the facility of the south discharge outlet of the fukushima daiichi power plant which was 126 times the controlled limit yesterday, later rose to 140 times, and today was at 1,250.8 times the control limit. this figure means that if you drink 500 milliliters of such water, you would get a dose of one millisievert which is an average dose limit for adults. >> the situation at the fukushima daiichi plant remains serious. tokyo electric power company has had to change its strategy to restore cooling systems at the plant due to high radiation levels at the site. reactors one through four all lost their cooling capabilities when external and backup power supplies failed after the quake and tsunami. tepco has been working to restore external power while trying to cool the reactors. the three workers were exposed to highly radioactive water in the basement

the levels of radioactivity at present around the site of the plant where the country's a nuclear safety agency says it's collecting information on the blast well earlier a state of emergency was declared by prime minister kan five nuclear reactors out of the generators in cooling water failed however japanese officials say. the. say the plant's reacts is after radioactive material was detected out side of it but it follows of course friday's raechel eight point nine magnitude earthquake and results in the tsunami struck in the afternoon local time on friday off the coast of honshu weiland some four hundred kilometers north of these doors of tokyo but it was nearly eight panels in time stronger than last month's earthquake in new zealand that devastated the city of christ church and some of those saying search and rescue teams from around the world that helps in that disaster are now on their way to japan for fouls the rules of residence have already been moved in the fears of a leak at a second plant nearby the official number of deaths in japan after the tsunami stands at over seven hundred b

nuclear safety agency raised the severity crisis at fukushima daiichi from a four to a five that is 7-level scale. they compare to a partial meltdown like three-mile island. they are asking officials for help after dangerously overheated energy plant and fire trucks including one from the u.s. have been able to reach the cooling pool and building 3 this morning. panic is spreading around the plant and reported 10,000 people are fleeing even outside the evacuation zone. more than 16,000 people have been confirmed dead or missing since the quake struck a week ago. now the latest from japan. >> reporter: it's an all out battle to save the fukushima daiichi plant. they went in with high pressure water cannons to spray water to avert a potential meltdown. cruises went in with helicopters dropping 30 tons of sea water. that did little to cool it down at the site site and they said they would not resume aerial operations for now. 300 men are working around the clock to save the plant all opting to remain nameless. a wife sharing her husband e-mail. please live well, i won't be home for a whi

. >> japan's nuclear safety agency says it is likely the radioactive material is leaking from part of the number 3 reactor. officials don't think the reactor has cracked but the radioactive material is leaking from somewhere inside. earlier today the japanese prime minister warned the situation is nowhere near being resolved. >> the latest footage of the plant released by the japanese military. radiation and water at unit 3 was bound to be 10,000 times above normal levels. a breach of the core might be to blame. work was suspended after three workers were exposed to the radioactive water. >> there is a high possibility the third reactor's fuel rods are damaged. that is where we think the radioactive water came from. >> work to cool units one and two was also suspended, while high levels of radiation were also measured around the plant. japan's prime minister apologized to businesses affected by the crisis, saying the situation remained serious. >> we can not become complacent. we are trying to prevent things from getting worse but we cannot become complacent. we must be on our guard.

coming up later, japan's nuclear safety agency raises the accident alert levels at the fukushima nuclear plant saying the situation is serious. a nation remembers. japan holds a minute of silence for those who died in the earthquake and tsunami a week ago. ♪ the u.s. president barack obama has said the libyan leader colonel gaddafi must obey the u.n. demands or face military action. earlier, the libyan government announced an immediate ceasefire and promised to follow the u.n. resolution passed on thursday. he said colonel gaddafi had to stop all attacks on civilians, pull back his troops, and allow in humanitarian aid. >> now once more, muammar gaddafi has a choice. the resolution that passed lays out very clear conditions that must be met. the united states, the united kingdom, france, and arab states agree that a cease-fire must be implemented immediately. that means all attacks against civilians must stop. gaddafi must stop his troops from advancing on benghazi. he must pull them back from misurata and established water, gas, and electricity supplies to all areas. humanitarian assist

this morning arranges japan's nuclear safety agency has raised the level of the crisis to a 5. charlie? >> reporter: the head of the u.n.'s nuclear agency said today that workers have to race around the clock in order to prevent a meltdown and fewer watching closely as these people. they were evacuated from the area around the nuclear power plant. many fear they will never make it back home. >> reporter: firetruckss resumed blasting water onto japan's crippled nuclear power plant as crews raced to restore power to the facility. as early as today, they hoped to feed electricity to at least two of the six overheated reactors and get crucial water pumps working again. >> if the cooling systems in the reactors and fuel ponds are basically sound and then the power comes on, then we might look at that moment as the beginning of the end of this crisis. >> reporter: but even if the power starts back up, it's not clear the water pumps will. they may have already suffered too much damage. there are also fears that getting power back online could spark another explosion. smoke billowed aga

japan's nuclear and industrial safety agency says the operation to release air from the react boers gan before 9:00 a.m. local time on saturday. the valves to release the air have to be operated by hand but the radioactivity at one valve was too high to ensure the safety of workers. the agency is now considering other options, including rotating the workers frequently to limit their exposure and operating the valve by remote control. the agency says the release air -- the released air poses no risk to people outside the ten-kilometer evacuation zone. university of tokyo professor says filters will remove radioactive substances before the air is released. the agency says air inside the container will be tested for radioactivity. >> translator: at this moment, we have no confirmation that radioactive materials was released. we ordered people within a radius of three kilometers to evacuate for safety reasons. all nuclear power plants have some form of backup water system in case of an emergency, but as we've just been reporting, the system failed at that power plant in fukushima prefect pu

focus on the day before you think about the weekend >> the latest in japan, the country's nuclear safety agency raised the severity rateing for level four to level five on a seve seven-level scale. level five is having wider than local consequences. the country reaching out to the u.s. for help in stabilizing the overheated nuclear plants military fire trucks sprayed with water to try to prevent fuel from overheating and spewing dangerous radiation. relief workers held a moment of silence at the exact time the earthquake hit the country a week ago. as you can hear in several towns a i siren sounded. much of what was spared by the earthquake was wrecked by the tsunami. the death toll reeached 6500. foreigners lining up for flights out of the country. the u.s. advised americans living in japan to leave due to radiation from the plant. radiation concerns traveled across the pacific to the bay area. many people wonderinging what risk we face. trekking impacts from japan, one d dis-persian models show alaska, but you could get more radiation at home from things you use every day. today in the east b

the country's nuclear safety agency says there's another emergency at the same site. rescuers are looking for the missing along hundreds of miles of coastline with many areas still unreachable. the death toll stands at 696, where that number certainly expected to rise. the tsunami that raised across the pacific slammed into northern california airports. and some harbors are still closed. we took a tour of the district in santa cruz. >> reporter: from the water, we get a closer look at the damage left by the tsunami in the santa cruz harbor. >> it's devastating. >> reporter: state and local agencies took boat tours sinking 18 boats in and ripping docks apart. >> it's a lot of damage as you can down eastern fairway here, it's unsafe to motor there. >> reporter: much of the debris is still under water, some of it is being pulled out, some purpose purposefully left on the bottom. >>> there's always a pollution concern. >> reporter: they are looking for the sheen of oil in this murky water. >> we figuratively dodged a bullet because awful boats on the bottom of the harbor

japan's nuclear safety agency today called the failure to keep radioactive material sealed inside the plant "deplorable." workers are trying to pump out pools of radioactive water before they can restore electricity to cool the overheating reactors. we spoke with a fist sift who says we could learn some lessons. >> you come to the conclusion that someone like homer simpson is running a nuclear power station. >> it may sound funny, but he has harvard and berkeley degrees to back up his analysis. >> i think people are voting with their feet in terms of the jab knees reaction -- japanese reaction. we see incompetence. we see low estimates. >> he is the author of the best selling book, if we see a meltdown, it's a meltdown of confidence. now it's all coming down. the fact that they underestimated consistently the dangers of a tsunami. >> he came to palo alto tonight to talk to the commonwealth club about physics but he says the lesson is that the relationship and the utility company that run the plant is too cozy. >> there is enough blame took around in a sense that the government took th

that is the latest update from the nuclear safety agency who says that the government must consider expanding the evacuation zone around the plant. we go live to tokyo. there is for the rigid vision of boards of those figures. -- for the revision upwards of those figures. >> yes, a thousand times greater than before. that is of concern. that measurement was taken about 300 meters off the coast and near reactors 1-4. there is also high levels of radiation found near five and six. there is this worry about it. of course, as the authorities are pointing out, knowing is doing any fishing within 20 kilometers of that zone. -- no one is doing any fishing within 20 kilometers of that zone. the radiation will dilute as it does purses. -- as it disperses. >> criticism has been levied at the prime minister for not expanding that exclusion zone. is it now inevitable that he will have to do so? >> no, it is not. you have to be careful about the line. at the moment, this is just coming from one news agency. what happened is that the iaea has said that in one village which is about 40 kilometers from the z

japan's nuclear safety agencies rates this as a 4 an a scale of 1 to 7. at pennsylvania's three mile island, there was a partial core meltdown but not a significant release of radiation. japan now waits to see if it its fate is the same. anne thompson, nbc news london. >> we appreciate you being with us. the problem as we understand it, this particular reactor is around inability to cool did. they are putting sea water on it to coop the temperature. if they can't bring the temperature down, what is the worst case? >> the worst case is a meltdown which means that the fuel rods in the reactor heat to a high temperature that they actually melt together. you would see the core of the reactor turn to a mass that would burn right through the steel reactor vessel and drop into the concrete containment building surrounding that vessel. the very worst case is that that containment building, the concrete box doesn't hold this radioactive molten mass, and the earn tire core then spews into the environment, putting radio activity into the ground, the air and the wate

the nuclear and industrial safety agency says that steam was rising from the four reactors as of 10:00 a.m. and that all of it was colorless. at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant, work to cool down the storage pool after reactor building has been resumed. on wednesday, black smoke was seen rising from the number 3 reactor building. for safety reasons, work was suspended on restoring the cooling systems of reactor buildings one through four. the nuclear and industrial safety agency says at five 5:35 a.m. on thursday, the black smoke could no longer be seen. >> about the spent fuel pool on march 23rd, from 11:03 to 13:20, we injected about 35 tons of sea water to cool. and in addition, on today starting from 5:35 a.m., we are right now injecting 500 tons of water, sea water. and we have started this operation. regarding the number 3 reactor, for the reactor core, we have been using sea water to pour in -- we have been pouring in sea water but we intend to start pumping in fresh water, and that is expected to start today, using a pump that will be activated. >>> the agency said on

today, the country's nuclear safety agency said it has discovered the highest levels of radiation to date in seawater near the vicinity. -- to the facility. they acknowledged for of the six reactors at the plant will need to be scrapped. the company's process checked into a hospital with high blood pressure and dizziness. -- the company's loss check into a hospital. >> from the strip -- from the stricken plant to the sea, radiation is leaking. they don't know how or where it's coming from, but the levels are extraordinary. the government insists that contamination will be deleted as it spreads. this man is not sure. he farms seaweed 120 miles south of the plant. he's trying to salvage his nets, wrecked by the tsunami. the problems for -- the problems further north really worry him. >> we will be in trouble if the radiation comes here. we don't just work at sea, we form rice and vegetables also. we are about to plant our rice. we don't want radiation on it. >> his home port is not -- has not detected radiation yet, but there are concerns it could reach year. it could be absorbed by th

japan's independent nuclear safety agency, or rather commission, believes that highly radioactive substances found in the trench may have come from the vessel containing the reactor. the water in the trench for the number 1 reactor unit would overflow if the level reaches more than ten centimeters. tepco has closed the drain from the trench with sandbags and concrete shielding to prevent water from leaking into the ocean. it has also reduced the amount of water injected to cool the number 2 reactor. but the temperature in the reactor has risen by 20 degrees celsius. the death toll in japan's devastating march 11th earthquake has climbed to 11,004 people, with more than 17,000 still missing. japan's land ministry has found that the tsunami had reached more than 40 kilometers upstream from the mouths of the rivers. >> translator: in kitakamikawa, 49 kilometers of stream, and this image captures how the tides have reached inland. aomori, iwate, miyagi, and fukushima, these four prefectures, seven times the area encircled by the yamanata line in tokyo have been inundated. according to the geogra

japan's nuclear safety agency is saying more than 100 people could have been exposed to radiation. but japan's prime minister, naoto kan, insist everything is under control. still, government officials are playing it safe double the size of the evacuation zone around the plant to 12 miles and scanning everyone for radiation. three uvacueees are already being treat forward excessively high radiation levels. 70 miles away from the explosion site, the reactor's shadow still looms large. roads are badly damaged, so some here endure a grim wait to secure plane tickets. amid reports of a possible nuclear meltdown in fukushima, this tiny airport is much busier than normal with japanese military flying in and local residents attempting to get out. the aging fukushima reactor had been scheduled for retirement in just over two weeks' time. but critics have argued for years that an earthquake-prone country like japan should not maintain 54 active nuclear reactors. the poisonous smoke lingering over fukushima has led some here to wonder if they were right all along. celia hatten, cbs news, fuk

. >>> discouraging news tonight from japan's nuclear safety agency, which reports pressure is again rising in one of the tsunami-damaged reactors. a setback that requires the venting of more radioactive gas. fire trucks were able to get within 60 feet of reactor number three, and shoot 1,500 tons of water at it. tonight authorities say the efforts might not have worked as well as first thought. higher radiation has already been detected in japan's food chain. contaminated milk was found about 19 miles from the troubled nuclear plant, with radiation levels five times higher than considered safe. levels in spinach, up to 90 miles away was up to seven times higher than levels deemed safe. >>> new at 11:00, we are getting a better look at just how radiation from japan is entering our atmosphere. and higher levels are now being detected in our environment. nbc bay area's elyce kirchner is live now in lafayette to explain. elyce? >> reporter: hi, marla. experts at uc berkeley say they're discovering higher levels of radiation in part because of the rain we're seeing. they say it's like a sponge

in a report submitted to japan's nuclear safety agency two weeks before this crisis, plant operator tepko-- the tokyo electric power company-- admitted it failed to make routine inspections of equipment from bolts to motors at the fukushima plant. an investigation by the "wall street journal" found the plant had the highest accident rate of any large nuclear facility in the country. and more workers exposed to radiation. today, tepko's vice president expressed regrets for the accident. "we apologize from our heart for the problem and worries we are causing the people in this region," he said. but with setback upon setback, japan needs fewer apologies and more solutions. katie? >> couric: bill whitaker in tokyo, bill, thank you. and now to the worries over contaminated food. the u.s., china, south korea, and india have all stepped up their inspections of food exported by japan. italy has banned them all together. at stake for japan, an export market worth $5 billion a year. here's lucy craft. >> reporter: at this dairy farm here in chih be 20 miles east of tokyo there's a real fear that th

>> we know japan's nuclear safety agency today elevated the risk assessment of the situation from a four to a five on a scale of seven. seven is a chernobyl level disaster. five is a three-mile island level disaster. but already energy secretary steven chu and other u.s. officials said this disaster has clearly far surpassed three-mile island. we know that there is water running out that has drained or completely drained both from the reactors and the spent fuel containers. we know that if the spent fuel pools are completely drained, then that will lead to a radioactive fire that could spread radioactive material and could definitely lead to deaths and that's what the level five warning tells us. what we don't know is how much the water has drained. this is one of the many points on which there's a lot of conflicting information. the u.s., nuclear regulatory commission says their data shows -- gwen: all gone. >> the water drained completely, from japanese officials we're hearing no, that's not the case. we understand the japanese soldiers are trying to refill those spent fuel pools, are

japanese nuclear safety agency is saying for the first time that it suspects radioactive water from the plant is leaking directly into the ocean. today workers resume pumping out radioactive water from several buildings. >>> another earthquake scare in japan. a magnitude 6.5 quake struck off the northeastern coast on sunday prompting another tsunami warning. it was lifted and no additional damage was reported. >>> this morning, a vacaville man is recovering from serious injuries suffered when a bomb that was apparently hidden in his newspaper went off. this happened outside his home in the north browns valley area of vacaville about 10207 yesterday morning. -- about 10:30 yesterday morning. the explosion rocked the neighborhood. it happened when the man in his 80s picked up his newspaper. police evacuated more than 40 homes in the area and warned people not to pick up newspapers or anything else that might be suspicious. they had plenty of help in searching for more possible explosives. >> we have on scene right now the travis air force bomb squad, the alcohol, tobacco and firearms folk

according to the nuclear safety agency. the problem is it's not known how got there in the first place. whether or not there is a leak within any plant itself. or whether it was just in the atmosphere in came down as rain. at this point it appears as though radioactivity in the atmosphere around the plant is slightly lower. officials also don't know why the contaminated water can't fin10,000 times the limit, some good news and fresh water, pure water is being used to douse the reactors 1, 2 and 3 rather than salt water which experts say is a positive move which means it's less corrosive and there will be such as salt buildup. polos cnn in tokyo. >>maureen: group on is taking a restaurant world under storm. >>brian: another weather system on a board for tomorrow. i will tell you about your son the forecast coming up. it's really delicious, mom. it's not too well done? nope. but it is a job well done. what are you reading, sweetie? her diary. when you're done, i'd love some feedback. sure. your mom and i read that thing cover

well despite the latest blast and precarious situation japan's nuclear safety agency is still reassuring the public that there is no possibility of a chair noble style accident at the fukushima nuclear plant but while maintaining carbon dr robert blake of says authorities may themselves be unaware of just how dangerous things could get. historically i can tell you that in every situation like this when there is a nuclear industrial accident there is a very there's two different programs underway one is the program to control the problem and the other is the program to manage public opinion in the case of managing public opinion there is always a desire to present the opinion or to present a perception that the government is in control there is no undue danger and there is no reason to panic often the need to control this kind of perception runs counter to the actual information which may be useful to people about whether they're in danger now or people rely on the government to give them accurate in formation about what the threats are so there's never been a case where the information h

the nuclear and industrial safety agency held a news conference on thursday morning to explain the details of the situation at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant. let's see that first. at fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant power supply was stopped at the time of quake. so, the plant has been out of power since the quake hit the region. so today, we are trying to restore the power supply using the power lines from outside and this is one of the high priority issues we have to address. of course, the top priority is to cool down the storage pool for nuclear -- for spent nuclear fuels for number three, number four units. so the second priority is to restore power supply in part of this operation will start this afternoon. once we get power supply, and then we will be able to operate a cooling system using sea water. but it will take time to restore the function of the main part of the facilities because the pumps were contaminated by sea water and it must be repaired before -- so we have to install the makeshift -- or temporary pumps to resume supply of water. >>> translator: so we

that reactor officials say is rising raising fears of a radiation leak latest from japan's nuclear safety agency saying to reduce that pressure radioactive vapor may have to be released although this saying stressing it will pose no risk to humans or the environment we'll continue our coverage of the japanese quake and the subsequent tsunami here on r.t. let's take a break from that coverage and head over to business affairs for the latest from moscow after this quick break. hello and welcome to business japan's economy is said to suffer significantly after being hit by one of the biggest earthquakes in the last one hundred years along with massive blackouts the country's infrastructure is paralyzed some companies like toyota and sony have already halters operations so early to gauge the impact the exact economic impacts but central bank has already stepped up efforts to provide ample liquidity however japanese stocks reacted negatively with major losses in the final minutes of trading on friday the benchmark nikkei index and see there ending the week of five week low one point seven percent als

damage and no doubt the momentum but there are fears of a possible meltdown earlier the a nuclear safety agency says it is collecting information on the blast for now the information we have is that the roof. of the a fukushima reactor has collapsed and radioactivity is said to be rising rapidly now earlier there have been evacuations but now the a radius that the government has put is a twenty kilometer radius anyone within that limit should be evacuated and are being evacuated at the moment and the government is also said to be preparing iodine to secure the safety of people in the area now the public is being urged to save electricity amid a fierce of a power supply cuts well just to remind you earlier a state of emergency was declared at five a nuclear reactors after the generators pumping cooling water failed though this is necessary to keep temperatures at a certain level once it gets too hot there are dangers of summer sea explosions which is what we're seeing right now you can see right smoke billowing from the a fukushima power plant one another the a prime minister did not rule out a

meltdown you can see on your screen it's white smoke billowing from the power plant but the nuclear safety agency says that it is collecting information on the blast the roof of the fukushima reactor has reportedly collapsed and radioactivity is said to be rising rapidly all residents living within a ten. the longer radius of the nuclear plant are being evacuated let's just remember that in the beginning where they were evacuating residents they said they said that within. the yawned a ten kilometer radius should be ok but now they are evacuating people from beyond that a ten kilometer radius of the public is being urged to save electricity amid fears of power supply just to give you some numbers about four million households are without power bills the in the northeast and earlier a state of emergency was declared at five nuclear reactors after the generators pumping cooling water fields so this cooling system is failed the cooling system is causing the temperatures to rise at the power plant well of course this comes following friday's record eight point nine magnitude earthquake which struck m

japan's nuclear safety agency has recommended twenty kilometer exclusion zone around the site and the operator has failed to regain control over the site since it was hit by devastating earthquake and tsunami twenty days ago dr john. consultant says the crisis. prepared for such an emergency. problem is really the fundamental nuclear safety culture in japan and generally in the rest of the people of world is flawed what happened here is that the japanese considered this cascade. to tsunami could never happen or would happen so infrequently but they didn't have to take account of it and as a result they never practice is never rehearsed for this type of accident and we can see affectedly that the japanese for the first two weeks have been running around to corner an old english phrase like headless chickens not knowing what to do the real problem is this give claim take a measure like flooding in and quench in the reactors with water that may well lead to serious consequences later on when they have all that accumulated water inside which is highly radioactive then they have to make a

the nuclear safety agency said a fire in the reactor at the damaged plant in the tsunami ravaged north eastern region has been extinguished. radiation levels are spiking. japan's prime minister addressed his country a few hours ago, urging calm but acknowledging that radiation had seeped from the plant's number 4 reactor. we warn people living nearby to stay indoors. as the risk rises, japan's economic crisis deepens. the nikkei stock index falling 12% on news of another explosion at that plant. radiation fallout, a huge concern for people all across japan. i spoke with our report better the threat of radiation and how the people there are handling the threat after being physically and emotionally battered by the earthquake and the tsunami. george, the people there have to feel so battered, first by the earthquake and then the tsunami. how are they dealing with this nuclear threat and how much is that weighing on their everyday lives? >> reporter: it just adds another layer to the concern that they have here in tokyo and in many parts of this country. you have the aftershocks. you have

on fox news a little while ago was a government official in japan saying that this was the nuclear safety agency in japan saying that no immediate health risks are. happening to the public well it's a very deceptive use of the english language or the japanese language no immediate risks. cancers that would be caused by the exposure to this radioactivity may take years or even decades to develop but those latent cancer fatalities are very much. possible and would be caused by the radioactive exposure and those could be for years and years to come when you and i were talking before we were talking about how yes you know we're coming up on the twenty fifth anniversary of chernobyl but the effects of what happened there will be felt for a lifetime and science knows what leagues and periods are there's a lot more to learn but for example we came in children has a very shortly and see period and so one of the first diseases to be seen after chernobyl for example was a dramatic rise in childhood leukemia another one that's related to reactor accidents like happened at chernobyl is the release of radioa

pressure inside the reactor has been building it's raised fears of a radiation leak pan's nuclear safety agency says to reduce the pressure of radioactive vapor may be released but this poses no danger to the public right now. but of course keep you up to date with what's happening in japan but next it's people of cross talk and today peyton is guest debate what's a stake in the ongoing crisis in the arab world is coming up after this quick break . cooling you the latest in science and technology from the realms. we've gone to the future of coverage. keep. chloe and welcome to cross dot com peter lavelle the new middle east in the making has the west gotten past its focus on security over democracy in the region and has the west particularly washington learned anything about the process of change in the arab middle east over the past three months. can. you discuss the events in the arab world i'm joined by belak slifer in cairo he's a professor emeritus at the american university in cairo in paris we have so i had my job he is a professor of middle east studies at the american university of par

government to see if their resources specialists from electricity defrosts and and the french nuclear safety agency. basically there now call it trying to call in reinforcements but really we're all off the chart right now there is no plane and i guess i wasn't surprised of the french for that anyhow it's all thanks again john associates. entire world is feeling the effects of this catastrophe as far away as massachusetts rainwater registered radiation from the day she planned and in new york two democratic representatives are pushing republicans to get money from the nuclear industry to go along with a reevaluation of the indian point nuclear facility which sits on an earthquake fault line so how worried should we all be about what's happening in japan and it could happen here is the indian point plant a ticking time bomb congresswoman nita lowey one of the why makers trying to raise awareness of this issue joins me on the phone from new york congresswoman welcome hi there a pleasure to be with you tom and i want to say even before this catch catastrophe in japan i've always had concerns about the

two reactor but no immediate word of the extent of the damages we did know that the japanese nuclear safety agency confirms that. explosion was heard at twenty one ten g.m.t. we are still trying to get the details for you but safety officials have admitted that they cannot rule out a full meltdown at the moment now the fukushima crisis now reads as a more serious accident for the one nine hundred seventy nine three mile island disaster in the united states so how will the fukushima disaster if that's the nuclear industry here in america and could age upin style crisis happened here at home and earlier i spoke with king who is the founder and creative director of dancing in productions about the crisis here's part of our conversation. the situation is very dynamic right now there were still waiting to find out is there going to be a nuclear core meltdown if so will there be multiple or a meltdown if so how widespread will the radiation be the problem with radiation of course that it's invisible you can't so it could be around for generations and the effects are long lasting and in india then not ge

a spokesman for the nuclear safety agency told me that hundreds of tons of radiated water used in emergency cooling there have to be released into the environment at some point. more than two weeks on, the scale of this catastrophe is still too big to gauge. >>> u.s. geological survey researchers say a new study confirms that large quakes, like the one in japan, do not trigger major quakes far away. seismologists closely watched the day after the magnitude 9 quake in japan and compared that with quakes spend ising a period of 30 years name found that big quakes can trigger smaller quakes within a 600 mile radius, but not thousands of miles away. >>> san francisco will giant the nation in standing up for japan. vigils are set for many cities tomorrow night. the candlelight vigil will be across from san francisco's city hall, and include speech ands from various community leaders. >>> coming up, nato takes over in libya. what that means for the pus. and we'll have the latest on the ground war there next. >>> the largest sex discrimination lawsuit ever is about to reach the nation's highest ca

. >>> japan's nuclear safety agency this morning raised 9 sest level of the country's nuclear crisisfrom a four on a scale of seven. the five is equal to the three mile island incident in this country in 1979. >>> engineers trying to restore power to the cooling systems of two reactors today but it's unclear if the cooling systems work at all. >>> a diplomat in vienna says radioactive fallout has reached southern california but first readings are, quote, about a billion times beneath levels that would be health threatening, they say. >>> this morning libyan government says it's ending >>> it was one week ago that a massive earthquake, followed by a tsunami shadowed the coastline of northern japan. this morning the continued search and rescue operations are revealing how horrific a disaster this is. jeff glor is here with us with more details on this. >> as we have talked about a great deal of concern over the nuclear crisis in japan. but this earthquake and the ensuing tsunami have done far more than cripple a power plant. they destroyed tens of thousands of lives in japan creating a

and japan's nuclear safety agency has raised the severity rating. crisis from a level 4 to a 5. >>> britain's prime minister says his country will be sending fighter jets in the coming hours to help enforce a no-fly zone over libya this after the united nations security council authorized all necessary measures to halt moammar qaddafi's advances against opposition forces and to prevent the slaughter of civilians. >>> and the district attorney's office will drop about a dozen cases involving arrests by contra costa county's central narcotics task force. a former commander of the task force faces felony drug charges accused of conspiring with a former private investigator to sell stolen drug evidence. >>> all right. the storm clouds already here this morning. we are picking up some rainfall outside right now and there is more to come. it will pick up throughout the day. impressive cells coming onshore as well as lightning strikes as well already. a cell coming through san francisco and skirting across 101 into the north bay. more of this activity sprea

country nuclear safety agency says a fire at the nuclear power plant has been extinguished.ent officials are still warning people to stay indoors in case of radiation leaks. the massive earthquake has now upgraded to a 9.0magnitude, fourth largest quake in the world. ever recorded. today president obama pledged u.s. support. >> i want to reiterate america's support for the people of japan. approximately who are some of our closest friends and allies. and i said directly to the prime minister of japan, prime minister cohn the united states will continue to offer any assistance we can as japan recovers from multiple disasters. we will stand with the people of japan and difficult days ahead. >>reporter: the death toll from the tsunami continues to rise. now at 2800 but it is expected to rise perhaps by thousands. >> japan nuclear plant crisis is threatening the development of nuclear power around the globe. germany put off plans to extend the life of the nuclear facility and switzerland holding off on new plant there. mark tonight has the question an concerns about nuclear powe

. >> japan's nuclear safety agency says it is likely the radioactive material is leaking from part of the number 3 reactor. officials don't think the reactor has cracked but the radioactive material is leaking from somewhere inside. earlier today the japanese prime minister warned the situation is nowhere near being resolved. >> the latest footage of the plant released by the japanese military. radiation and water at unit 3 was bound to be 10,000 times above normal levels. a breach of the core might be to blame. work was suspended after three workers were exposed to the radioactive water. >> there is a high possibility the third reactor's fuel rods are damaged. that is where we think the radioactive water came from. >> work to cool units one and two was also suspended, while high levels of radiation were also measured around the plant. japan's prime minister apologized to businesses affected by the crisis, saying the situation remained serious. >> we can not become complacent. we are trying to prevent things from getting worse but we cannot become complacent. we must be on our guard.

officials have revealed a partial meltdown of the rods has occurred according to the nuclear industry safety agency. the number one reactor has reached the level four on the event scale. the scale has a range of to 7. authorities say that iodine has been released, signaling that nuclear fission is occurring, due to the loss of coolant, which exposes the rod. >> you could be not able to maintain the pressure in the reactor and could cause them to go critical. >> reporter: a partial meltup in three mile island resulted in evacuation of 140,000 people within five miles of the plant. the explosion today damaged the building housing the reactor but not the reactor itself according to officials. engineers are pouring sea water into the container to cool it. >> thank god the vessel itself, which contains the superhot uranium, that was intact. if that had ruptured, you're talking about an accident beyond comprehension. >> reporter: that incident is a theoretical china syndrome. if the fuel rods heat enough to escape the containment vessel it will not stop until it reaches china. >> making a list of evacees

finally the safety, the nuclear safety agency in japan says that at the first reactor that blew that exploded, 70% of the fuel rods there appear damaged so they still have a lot of work to do, major concerns there. >> thank you for the update. >> new numbers when it comes to the damage estimate after the california tsunami that could exceed $25 million at the harbor. it is up from the original report of $17 million and does not include the $4 million in damage to private boats. the damage to the harbor and ft. bragg is $4 million. the inner harbor in crescent city is almost completely destroyed. 63 boats were damaged and 16 sank. >>> the san francisco district attorney says most of the cases connected to the officers accused of misconduct have been dropped. the office dismissed 68 cases, eight officers are under investigation for allegedly conducting illegal searches and falsifying reports. the district attorney has turned the investigation over to the fbi saying his office lacks the resources. >> it is up to san francisco mayor ed lee to determine who will replace gasgon as head of