tepco didn't tell us directly where radiation levels were highest. >> narrator: tepco now says most of their dosimeterwere washed away in the tsunami, but that they ensured each group of workers had one. >> (translated): it was an emergency operation and we were in a hurry. no one complained, we all understood. even if it broke the rules, we kept quiet about it. >> narrator: when the pipes were laid, a steady flow of water at last started to cool the reactor cores. after days in fear of dying, the workers in the control center began to feel hope. >> (translated): people around me, their expressions grew brighter. angry voices fell silent. the bosses calmed down. >> narrator: weeks of difficult and often perilous work lay ahead. but the most dangerous phase of the crisis was over. >> narrator: the prime minister was later forced to resign, accused by his critics of mishandling the crisis. tepco faces having to pay tens of billions of dollars in damages. the company is on the verge of bankruptcy. the workers who battled to save the plant face an uncertain future. none of them have died f

so tepco needs to develop new method for inspection. the inspection has just started. so we can't say anything with absolute certainty. but tepco has learned this time locating leaks is difficult even at number two reactor, which is less damage, therefore chosen to be inspected first. as for the number one and number three reactors damaged by hydrogen explosions, tepco has no idea at all when to start inspections. the decommissioning process at fukushima daiichi is expected to take 40 years. but without decommissioning, there is no end in sight. it is not an easy process. but tepco needs to use all available knowledge in japan and elsewhere to bring the situation under control as early as possible. >> nhk world's hidehiro hanada. >>> the u.s. economy grew by an annualized 2.2% in the first quarter of 2012. figures indicate the recovery is slowing down. the u.s. department of commerce released preliminary gdp figures for the january to march period. stronger consumer spending was offset by cutbacks in government expenditures and private sector investments. the difficult

but tepco's problems were only just beginning. to prevent further core damage, plant workers began feeding seawater into the crippled reactors, but much of this highly radioactive water began to leak through cracks. >> apparently there are cracks in the containment and a large fraction of the water that they are feeding into the vessels is coming out into the basement of the reactor building. >> o'brien: and some of it made its way into the sea. >> they think there's a breach somewhere but they don't know where it is. they'll have to get to a situation where they can go in and decontaminate above the reactor and then they can get at what's inside. that's going to take a long time. >> o'brien: four months after the disaster, i came to japan. along the sendai coast, people were cleaning up. the earthquake and tsunami had stripped whole towns from their foundations, killing an estimated 18,000 people. life is forever changed here. the big concern here remains the radioactive fallout from the fukushima nuclear explosions. people here

tepco on wednesday sent a robot with five cameras and a do si meter into a scaffold. workers maneuvered the robot to check about 90% of the upper part of the 125-meter doughnut-shaped chamber, but they found no serious damage or deformation. the utility says there were no leaks, or water leaks or traces in manholes on the chamber where leakage had been suspected. tepco has not been able to confirm the conditions of pipes connecting the suppression pool and the containment vessel where the company also suspects water is leaking. >>> myanmar's pro democracy leader aung sung suu kyi is planning her first overseas trip in over 40 years. let's get the details from patchari raksawong. >> the last time the nobel peace laureate left myanmar was back in 1988. her national league for democracy party said the newly elected lawmaker will visit norway and the united kingdom. aung san suu kyi was under house arrest for much of the last 40 years under the then military rulers. she won the nobel peace prize in 1991, but her detention meant she was unable to receive the award in perso

the new chairman will play a crucial role in drawing up tepco's turn around proposal. the plan is a condition for the utility to receive public funds over $12 billion. tepco must submit the plan by mid-may. >>> japan's nuclear network is running on empty. the only reactor still in operation goes off line for maintenance and safety checks in about two weeks. government leaders have promised to seek local approval before units are started because of what happened at fukushima daiichi. two reactors in ohi could be the first to start. a new nhk survey suggests more than half the people living in ohi support the plan to fire up the units again but only a third of the citizens in neighboring areas are in favor. nhk conducted the telephone poll last weekend. the results showed 54% of people in ohi support the plan to restart the reactors. 37% are against it. only 32% in neighboring municipalities back the plan. 60% oppose it. the survey asked whether they're concerned that restarted reactors could be damaged and release radiation into the environment. 71% of people in ohi sai

tepco first has to repair the damage to the containment vessels and suppression chambers underneath. tepco on wednesday sent a robot with five cameras into a scaffold around the number two reactor's suppression amber. that's the suppression chamber. workers maneuvered the robot to check about 90% of the upper part of the 125-meter doughnut-shaped chamber. but they found no serious damage or deformation. the utility says there were no water leaks or traces in maoles on the chamber, where leakage had been suspected. but tepco has not been able to confirm the condition of pipes connecting the suppression pool and the containment vessel where the company also suspects water is leaking. >>> japan and ukraine have concluded a deal that would allow them to cooperate on post-nuclear disaster issues. the two countries have endured the worst nuclear crises in history. japan began negotiating the deal in january following the fukushima nuclear accident last year. ukraine suffered enormous damage from the 1986 chernobyl accident. japan's foreign minister and the ukrainian emergency minister sign

tepco will have to repair any damage to the chamber and vessel.hen a crew will fill the vessel with water and retrieve melted fuel rods. >>> municipal leaders in japan's northeast are making the best of a bad situation. last year's tsunami devastated coastal towns and cities. evidence of the destruction still remains. so locals are offering visitors disaster-area tours. we're taking you on one for this week's "road ahead." here's nhk world's yukari condo. >> reporter: junko from miyago city leads a tour. the city's tourism office hired her in february as a disaster area guide. the tsunami -- it also left her jobless. looking back on the ordeal, how to bear. then a friend in tokyo asked her if things up north were back to normal. she said she hadn't heard much news about the area. that's what made her apply for the guide position. >> translator: i was worried that everyone just assumed things were back to normal here. things are slowly getting better, but we are nowhere close to being back on our feet. >> reporter: in miyago city, the tsunami swept

tepco on wednesday sent a robot with five cameras into a scaffold around the number two reactor suppression chamber. workers maneuvered the robot to check about 90% of the upper part of the chamber. but they found no serious damage or defamation. the utility has not been able to confirm the conditions of pipes connecting the containment vessel where the company expects water is leaking. >>> let's turn now to the world weather forecast. >>> hi there. things are getting wet across western japan because of a southwesterly flow coming in from the ocean. it's going to be particularly wet on the pacific side with thunderstorms and gusty winds possible into tomorrow. but behind us, dry and warm across the korean peninsula and up towards the north, a low pressure system, which is bringing a wintry mix into mongolia, starting to move into northeastern china. actually, some hail had been reported in and around the beijing area. we have been hearing reports of some flight cancellations in beijing international airport. down towards the south, unstable weather is continuing in southeast china. it's bee

just adding risk to the existing pool securities that's what wall street does now japan who can shima tepco they've taken that obvious lesson from wall street they're going to burn the already radioactive debris and to create another trauma of radioactive aerosol degree they can blow around the world across the pacific into los angeles yeah i think of it as kind of their monetary policy because all of this crazy zero interest rate policy the so-called quantitative easing actually started in japan twenty something years ago in the beginning of their last decade which is now decades so look at this next thing they're also doing with this radioactive debris in addition to burning the radioactive debris japan intends to build tents over the leaking fukushima reactors well this sounds like a way to contain the radiation it would actually funnel it straight up and spread it globally so how is this not like the funnel the holes that they use at the central bank well they're going to. energy you know goes back to quantum theory and the high isn't berg uncertainty principle and albert einstein and t

i do think this is something that has to be addressed quickly and tepco has a ten-year plan for essentiallyry storage. that must be sped up because if another earthquake or tsunami hits, it could be very, very damaging and possibly more radiation than earlier. >> what are effect does this have on the united states? can they get in the water and go over to california in those waters? >> i will not speculate about that certainly. these reactors are very, very close to the ocean. my home state, we have long been concerned about tsunamis and earthquakes. i think it's time to get this right. we need to focus on what kind of design there ought to be for nuclear plants and where they ought to be located. certainly the question of putting them right next to oceans and ought to be problematic to anyone. those are the kinds of issues that can't be kept up any longer. >> japanese exports are safe. if you are a green tea drinker like i am, you get green tea from japan, you shouldn't worry about that? >> i won't make scientific judgments. i think they made it clear that they have been able to handle muc

increase dur new york city was never a good coastline, destroying there may not be a lot of >> ty e tepco could have done roaway in fukushima, japan. then, at about 3:30, just 45ear, sumi.f the giant waves iat earthquake shook japan. >> we just had a majorthe ight f ac distance. al te on cell it faile scenes with his camera. it grew to faiut dl tears?ossiee fukushima ci orshed over 1,300 miles of swung.zeronothing. keeburning t. operating reactors at thea blt e >> well, it could be a magde electricy-eartuake, for valve operation nundand foed oa dn't stop there. ff l'brienres are making its to of course, fukushis police with water cannons hours.himait's reallyretor buil. b>> o'brien: barely half an hor after the quake, tir the top ofct ri completely dar were destroyed in the deluge. 'b zones are not gonna bensiding te coastl dof considering that, but communities and killing what's the first thing that esmato ptect major tsunami could overwhelm authie the plant. navigating a labyrinth of air the world, nuclearer to block a 17-footdenagned to bw the actual wave was at lear anfa a untry so we