in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi with your updates. >>> tokyo electric power company, the operator of the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant says it skipped testing the plant's water types as scheduled. on monday, tepco was forced to suspend a water recycling operation due to leaks. the utility began running the filtering system on monday, but it had to halt the operation after only 90 minutes as the treated water was leaking from pipes that were not fastened properly. the system is designed to recycle contaminated water to be used to cool the reactors. the operator says it failed to check the four kilometers of piping because it did not find any problem during an inspection more than two weeks ago. the company says it will review that decision. circulating the decontaminated water around the reactors is considered an important step in stabilizing them by mid-july as planned. it will also help prevent the volume of waste water from increasing. tepco says it will repair the leaks and hopes to resu

let's take a quick look at the opening levels here in tokyo. the nikkei average trading lower, down by more than 30% and breaking below the 9,600 mark. overnight in new york, a four-day winning streak. the fact that the fed chairman did not make any reference to the possibility of qe 3 and that the fed cut its growth forecast for u.s. economic growth this year and next triggered a round of selling. now, u.s. stocks were also prone to profit taking, especially after four straight sessions of gains which pushed up the dow by almost 300 points. on thursday, the -- on wednesday the dow finished at 12,109 points, or two-thirds of 1% and nasdaq finishing at 2,669.19. here in tokyo, the overnight losses in new york could put pressure on stock and the nikkei rise of 2% could mean investors could shell shares to take profits. meanwhile, worries over the situation in greece have eased somewhat, especially after the vote of confidence in the greek parliament. that could mean something positive for market sentiment here in tokyo. and on the corporate front

in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. >>> tokyo electric power company resumed the operation to cool damaged reactors at the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant on tuesday, but it says it found minor water leaks in a newly installed cooling system. tepco said it traced the leak to a joint connecting plastic hoses near a pump injecting water. it did not check the possibility of a water leak before starting the system on monday. tepco's so-called circulating injection cooling operation is designed to decontaminate radioactive waste water in the reactor and turbine buildings and then use the treated water to cool the reactors. it says 14 tons of recycled water and two tons of freshwater have been injected into the reactors per hour. the utility says it will continue to inject water while watching out for more leaks. >>> the japanese government has decided to help fukushima prefecture conduct health surveys of its residents with estimates on the spread of radioactive substances from the fukushima daiichi

it's 9:00age in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. >>> the a magnitude 5.5 earthquake hit nagano prefecture in central japan at 8:16 a.m. japan time thursday. japan's meteorological agency registered tremors with an intensity of 5 plus on the japanese scale of zero to seven. the agency says the epicenter was in the central part of nagano at a relatively shallow depth. for those of you just tuning in a magnitude 5.5 earthquake hit nagano prefecture in central japan at 8:16 a.m. japan time on thursday, that's about 45 minutes ago, japan's meteorological agency registered tremors with an integrity of 5 plus on the japanese scale of zero to 7. the agency says the epicenter was in the central part of nagano at a shallow depth. >>> now to what could be considered the biggest problem daunting japan's damaged nlear plant, highly radioactive water keeps building up at fukushima daiichi. tokyo electric power company has released an estimate of how much it expects to decontaminate over the next three months. tepco said w

in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi with your updates. >>> at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant, leaking water is threatening to decontaminate highly radioactive water, key to bringing the plant under control. tokyo electric power company or tepco had been planning to start full operation of the water treatment system on friday. it has been carrying out test runs. but a u.s. made device to remove radioactive materials mainly cesium stopped running on thursday. the utility company says it's examining the cause and trying to fix the problem, but it adds that suspension may delay full scale operation of the water treatment system. the highly radioactive water is building up at a rate of 500 tons a day as freshwater is being poured onto the reactors to cool them down. the main facility to store radioactive water reached capacity on thursday and any delay in launching the treatment system could cause contaminated water to overflow in about ten days. water treatment system is a precondition of

in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. >> prime minister naoto kan said on thursday that he will step down after prospects for rebuilding the disaster-hit areas and stabilizing the fukushima nuclear power plant become clear. however, opposition party leaders and even some ruling party members continue to demand kan's immediate resignation. >> translator: a >> translator: after handling the disaster recovery and making sure that the nuclear crisis has been resolved to a certain stage, i will have fulfilled my duty as prime minister to the japanese people. then i would like to pass on my responsibilities to the younger generation of democratic party lawmakers. >> >> kan is believed to have made the decision because some party members had hinted that they would vote in favor of a no confidence motion against the cabinet, which had been submitted on the previous day to the lower house. ruling ruling and opposition party members speculate that kan wants to stay in his post until january. >> translator:

in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. >>> japan's nuclear safety agency says there were 800 to 1,000 kilograms of hydrogen in two of the reactors at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant shortly after it was hit by the quake and tsunami in march. the nuclear and industrial safety agency studied the data that tokyo electric power company provided last month. the agency says about 1,000 kilograms of hydrogen were produced in the number one reactor when the fuel rods became exposed two hours after the quake and the metal fuel containers oxidized an hour later. it says the same happened in the number three reactors some 43 hours after the quake, creating the same amount of hydrogen. as a result, hydrogen explosions blew the tops off the number one and three reactor buildings. >>> the japanese government will restructure its nuclear organizations to clarify roles and responsibilities if a nuclear disaster occurs. nhk obtained a draft of a report. the report says the government will make the nuclear

in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. >>> the operator of the fukushima daiichi plant has announced detailed plans to filter 100,000 tochbs water contaminated with highly radioactive substances. tepco reported how it intends to proceed with the job to the nuclear and industrial safety agency on thursday. about 500 tochbs contaminamid water is accumulating daily within the reactor structures due to continued injections of fresh water to cool the facilities. tepco plans to decontaminate 1200 tons of the water daily. the power company says it will separate oil from contaminated water before transferring it to u.s.-made equipment that absorbs radioactive cesium using minerals like zeolite. the water will then be transferred to french-made equipment that absorbs radioactive substances using chemicals. tepco says the devices will reduce the concentration of radioactive substances in the water to 1 thousandth to 1 ten-thousandth of the level. the firm plans to on stain the c -- obtain the consent of the

in tokyo. the operator of the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant says it has detected high levels of the radioactive substance that tends to accumulate in human bones. tokyo electric power company made the announcement after analyzing soil samples taken on may 9th at the relocations about 500 meters from the number one and number two reactors. the utility detected up to 480 becquerels of radioactive strontium per kilogram of soil. it was higher than what was detected in the soil during the cold war era. this is the second time since april this has been found inside the plant compound. the substance was also detected in soil and plants more than 30 kilometers from the fukushima nuclear power station in march. tokyo electric power says it believes it was released from the damaged plant and it will continue to monitor radiation levels. >>> a team from the international atomic energy agency will submit a summary of its report to the japanese government on wednesday after concluding its investiga

in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. >>> more workers at the >>> more workers at the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant are being pulled off the job because they might have been overexposed to radiation. japan's health and labor ministry says six workers could have received doses above the allowable limit of 250 millisieverts. tokyo electric power company gave the ministry an update monday of its latest round of checks on plant workers. the ministry says the amount of radiation exposure was nearly 500 millisieverts for each of the six tepco employees in question. the maximum allowable dose for nuclear workers in japan was raised to 250 millisieverts from 100 after the crisis started. an additional 94 workers have been exposed to between 100 and 250 millisieverts. in late may, two tepco employees on duty at reactors number three and four were confirmed as having received doses of more than twice the emergency limit. the health and labor ministry has told the utility to give all overexposed workers th

i'm michio kijima in tokyo. thank you for watching. bye-bye.

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. do stay with us. we'll be back with more of your updates at the top of the next hour. hope to see you then. -- caions by vitac -- www.tac.com

to see how tokyo stocks are doing, let's cross over to ramin mellegard who is at the tokyo stock exchange. hi there, ramin. what kind of action are you seeing this thursday morning? >> reporter: very good morning to you ai, and as you see there, the nikkei and the topix extending losses. the nikkei was down almost 100 points just when the marts kicked off, and that follows the concerns overseas. we did see quite a move across equities, bonds and currency markets on the back of concerns over greece's pending debt restructures plans as well as the manufacturing data for the new york region that you mentioned as well. now the reaction in currencies was pretty clear-cut with the euro losing out against a basket of currencies on the back of those debt concerns, it fell around 2% against the dollar, and is currently trading around 114 against the yen, compared to 116 earlier in the week, showing the yen's strength there. we have to mention crude oil as well, which fell on the back of the rising dollar as well as the drop in the u.s. manufacturing data, as well as the greece debt concerns, so oi

behind the walls of its tokyo headquarters, tokyo electric forged a powerful alliance. political party leaders and ministers. sweden's -- they received things. this helped them become japan's largest utility and promoted nuclear-powered. officials turned a blind eye to safety problems at reactors. for years, one physicist has been fighting the closed culture environment. >> i happened to be in a meeting with took you electric on march 11. we were in the middle of the talks when the earth started to shake. and even then, they said their nuclear plants were safe. >> pier 1 artist has also long been warning against the dangers, in a different way -- one artist has also long been morning against it. it is a film with remarkable foresight. >> i never thought it would really happen. but if an amateur like me was worried, the experts definitely should have been worried about it. they played down the danger, and now, they are trying to talk their way out of it. >> do not panic, the nuclear plant is safe, says the tokyo electric man. then, the tsunami strikes. just like the even

in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. >>> the japanese government will hold a meeting on sunday in westerst japan to explain about safety in the area. the meeting will be the first of its kind since the accident at the fukushima daiichi plant. since the accident most nuclear power plants in japan have halted operations. restarting the reactors in genkai saga prefecture has the backing of the local mayor but the prefectural governor is maintaining a cautious stance. at the meeting it will be explained by the nuclear industrial safety agency. the meeting will be broadcast live on cable tv and the internet. the governor, however, has been criticized for its decision to choose only around seven residents to participate in the meeting. many local people are saying this will severely limit the wide range of opinions needed. a group of doctors has found that the estimated level of accumulated internal radiation exposure for people living in fukushima prefecture exceeded three-any he will sieverts. doctor

in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. >>> the operator of the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant will begin to cover the number one reactor building with polyester sheets this month to prevent the dispersal of radioactive substances. reactor buildings one, three and four were severely damaged by explosions and radioactive elements are still being released into the atmosphere. there are fears that heavy rain may hamper the workers' activities and that the rain water may become contaminated with radioactive materials. to prevent these situations, tokyo electric power company or tepco plans to enclose the reactor buildings with polyester sheets. the covering of the number one reactor building will begin later this month. the roughly one millimeter thick sheets will be attached to the steel frames of the 54-meter-high building. >> translator: i think it's thick for a sheet. it will prevent the release of

quite cool in tokyo, though, at 19 degrees. lots of clouds building over the western side of north america today. we've got cool and unsettled conditions again all the way from british columbia, canada, down towards central california here. some snow in the mix for the upper elevation areas. while that cold air meets the warm air in the south, we're going to see some quite active thunder clouds building up here for the new mexico as well as the ntral plains. so tornadoes, damaging winds possible throughout the night. many tornadoes and damaging winds reported in the northeastern corner of the u.s. as well. that system is quickly on its way out. new york city, 25 degrees, 22 degrees in chicago. it does say hot in houston at 36 degrees. 34 degrees in denver. we're looking at arm and dry conditions in the northern tier of europe. to the far north, wet and unsettled. around the mediterranean, though, we're going to see plenty of thunderstorms developing here across italy, much of the balkans into poland and also the ukraine, experi

in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. >>> italians have voted overwhelmingly to give up nuclear energy in a nationwide referendum. voter turnout exceeded the majority or the mandatory 50% required for a quorum, so the result will be valid. italians had opted to close nuclear plants in a poll in 1987, following the chernobyl accident. but prime minister silvio berlusconi's government proposed in 2009 to build new plants to secure sufficient supply of domestically generated electricity. the referendum was on whether to approve berlusconi's idea of reviving nuclear power. voting was held on sunday and monday. the italian interior ministry said 94.6% were against domestic nuclear power generation after 95% of all the votes were counted. >> translator: today is the historic day for italy. >> translator: the nuclear accident at fukushima convinced us that nuclear power generation is an outdated technology. >> even before the result was announced, berlusconi expressed his intention to cancel the plan to

we have a world empire of getting our american people are far from st tokyo knows you will get a good look at school but having dinner or even having a place to stay at night is always uncertain we call a coral home a park a home and shelter a home the national center on homelessness tested a portion of california's thirty four thousand homeless high school students and found that only nine percent were proficiency at reading and only five percent were proficient math a problem which will likely worsen as job losses foreclosures any vixens push more families to discrete you're worried. over those of the moment bikies because my. kids do wrong with this one this is school despite dealing with poverty and discrimination took you'll still dreams of being a basketball player or a musician you know money there's no good schools like get some more kids in grades give them a zero and yes even dreams of being the president of the united states until he reaches high office he has a message for those who are in power now we give in when it's a different people but you have children at home with

in tokyo. >>> a russian passenger plane carrying 48 people crashed while attempting to land. there are reports of casualties. russian media say the the plane left moscow and crash landed shortly after midnight monday. the government says the aircraft fell apart and burst into flames. reuters and ap say at least 40 people were killed in the crash. once again, this news just coming in to us this hour. a russian passenger plane carrying 48 people has crashed in the northwestern republic. russian media say the plane left moscow and crash-landed shortly after midnight on monday. the government says the aircraft fell apart and burst into flames. reuters and ap say at least 4 people wer kild in the h. >>> the mis oe n t the event ofn iaof thethe fukushima cintth agree ty ll experto inpeen oitdustrial safetyagcy i he etg.he nehbin counatn. eafuse otaar ine tresasonrn tio th i war' asar haave been d our best to solve them. t resumption of the water treatment system is urgent as cd water at the fukushima plant will reach capacity within a few ys meanwhile, tepcoo reinforce fuel pool at

in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. >>> the nuclear safety agency has instructed utility companies across the country to come up with measures to better respond to a serious nuclear accident. the government has already compiled a report for the international atomic energy agency about the nuclear accident at fukushima daiichi. it says the plant lacked sufficient safety measures to deal with theerious accident that caused the loss of all power sources. the nuclear and industrial safety agency asked utility firms to prepare portable lights and communication equipment as well as generator trucks. these vehicles will be used for emergency ventilation to keep radiation below certain levels in the central control room. the agency also proposes boring holes or removing panels in a reactor building if there's a high concentration of hydrogen. the measure's aimed at releasing hydrogen outside to prevent an explosion. the agency has instructed utility companies to submit the safety measures by tuesday nex

i'm michio kijima in tokyo with the news at this hour. tokyo electric power company says more than 100,000 tons of highly radioactive water has accumulated at the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant. the operator warns that the water may overflow later this month during the rainy season and says it is struggling to find a place to store the water after filtering. tepco says a total of 105,100 tons of highly radioactive water has pooled at the first four reactors after water was injected to cool the damaged reactors. it said the water contains an estimated 720,000 terra becquerels of radioactive substances. terra stands for one trillion. the situation is hampering efforts to achieve the ultimate goal of the stabilizing the reactors. on june 15, tepco plans to start using equipment that can filter 1,200 tons of contaminated water a day. in mid august, it will also install an underground storage tank that can hold 10,000 tons of highly radioactive water. the utility fears that the water could overflow if a filter fails to work so it plans to sec

i'm in tokyo with the news at this hour. a system to decontaminate radioactive water has gone into service at the fukushima daiichi plant. the system is considered key to deal with the build up to bring the reactors under control. the tokyo electric power company activated the system on friday after conducting final test runs. the utility found water leaking from one of the systems four components forcing the test runs to be called off on thursday. tepco found out that the valve in the pipes were mistakenly closed and had clogged the water which damaged the safety valve in one of the units. the broken valve was replaced. now this is a battle against time and radioactive water is building up in the reactors' facilities as we speak. tepco hopes to decontaminate the water and recirculate the water. >>> tepco has drawn up a revised plan to set a target for cooling down the reactors. measure s control workers exposure was set. officials of tepco briefed reporters on friday. it was the utility's second review of the road map that

in tokyo thousands demonstrate for clean energy three months after an earthquake triggered the focus shima nuclear crisis which there is still no end in sight. activists in switzerland tried to breach the wall of silence surrounding one of the world's most secretive and influential gatherings demanding the builder per group come clean on what they're up to. but along with the twenty fourteen winter olympics so she's preparing to host the paralympic games we follow the major construction of her name for make the city of more hospital place hospitable place i should say for people with disabilities. but from our headquarters in central moscow you're watching r t with me and he said now it's four pm here in the russian capital nine pm in tokyo and three months on japan is struggling to recover from its toughest crisis since the second world war when a nine magnitude earthquake sense and merciless toonami which left thousands dead and missing the natural disaster triggered a major radiation leak at the fukushima nuclear facility and it's still on the verge of a full scale nuclear catastr

in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi with your updates. >>> member states of the international atomic energy agency have agreed on the need for emergency inspections of nuclear reactors around the world. the agreement came on tuesday, the second day of the iaea's ministerial meeting in vienna. a working session was held to discuss a nuclear safety, based on the lessons from the accident at the fukushima daiichi power plant. some delegates said it's not appropriate to study universal safety measures based on the fukushima disaster. they said the accident was a special case, as the plant was hit by tsunami more than double the predicted height. other delegates stressed the importance of stricter safety procedures to prevent nuclear plants from completely losing their backup power sources. >> we will get to friday, and then we will come out with conclusions, and we look forward to a concrete action plan for the future as to how we can take these lessons forward and implement them on a global way. >>

moscow you're watching r t with me and he said now it's four pm here in the russian capital nine pm in tokyo and three months on japan is struggling to recover from its toughest crisis since the second world war when a nine magnitude earthquake sent a merciless toonami which left thousands dead and missing the natural disaster triggered a major radiation leak at the fukushima nuclear facility and it's still on the verge of a full scale nuclear catastrophe our correspondent sean thomas is in tokyo where anger over the situation is spilling onto the streets. that is so three months after they get a standing quake and tsunami which rocked japan and devastated the fukushima region of course creating the nuclear disaster at the tepco daiichi power plant where we now know that three reactors have melted down and possibly melted throughout today is a very interesting day at the tepco headquarters in central tokyo thousands of people have gathered so much in support of nuclear power believe it or not and thousands more who are walking the streets in organized protests carrying signs and banners and

first off let me take you to tokyo and the nikkei over there. the nikkei was up, did manage a gain of 0.2%. tepco fell 4% on some restructuring fears. its fears clawed back from a 13% plunge earlier today. tepco has been falling all week on growing fears that the government's plan to save and restructure it might actually collapse. shares of sumitomo and mitsubishi fell on those fears over in hong kong, the hang seng, is down about a third of a percent to 22584. it fell on fears of china money tightening on the mainland and air china fell 3.35%, china southern down 5.5%. that's because of fears of higher oil prices. in shanghai, that was the biggest market mover be fell by 1.75% to 2703. banking shares are down. new trade data is expected to come out on friday. also down to australia, the asx 200 did manage a gain of 0.3%. it was back and forth over the flat line for much of the day. in the day it did close up. jobs figures were just a bit over 7,000. that's disappointing for the jobs market there. the interest rate rise is now expected to be a

i want to pass the bill to fourteen years old man he says i gotta try to tokyo palmer has been forced to grow up faster than most kids after losing everything in hurricane katrina he and his father headed west but their move to the golden state has only led to poverty unemployment and ultimately homelessness is not a good thing for a kid to should go should go to you know at all and i mean good because i mean us care what i've been everywhere tokyo is among the growing number of homeless children in los angeles and around the nation last year the department of education reported that there were nearly a million homeless students in america's public schools thirteen thousand students in the l.a. area alone that's more than fifty percent increase in the past five years i was doing counselor i don't handle much yes has seen this steady rise in homeless students since the housing crash these families that we have that are homeless they're looking for employment they want employment and quite frankly that just isn't employment right now. comes home after school to a shelter which is actual

new home and this is home this is school despite dealing with poverty and discrimination tokyo still dreams of being a basketball player or a musician you. know going to schools like get some more kids in grades good to me. and yes even dreams of being the president of the united states until he reaches high office he has a message for those who are in power now we've given money to different people which i've chosen at home with children you know and your state. in your eyes and you can't help them no. for from the poor tours of power ideological battles oh challenge expressed with a clarity of childhood to the nation's elite los angeles. all right so for the last two weeks of nonstop wiener fever i've been bashing the media as you well know over the over the top incessant coverage that's blocked out every other story and i so fully stand by every single statement that i've made but the thing is it's not like we are a gate in itself is some singular phenomenon we see this happen all the time it almost seems like politicians and sex scandals become synonymous with larry craig david b

in tokyo where anger over the situation is spilling into the streets. that is so three months after the devastating earthquake and tsunami which rocks japan and devastated the fukushima region of course creating the nuclear disaster at the tepco daiichi power plant where we now know that three reactors have melted down and possibly melted throughout today is a very interesting day at the tepco headquarters in central tokyo thousands of people have gathered so much in support of your clear power believe it or not and thousands more who are walking the streets in organized protests carrying signs and banners and shouting out slogans through loudspeakers against nuclear power saying that there needs to be alternative sources of energy of all this of course in front of the tepco headquarters the company responsible for the daiichi power plant one of the reasons why this is important is that within the past week new information has come out saying that tepco at the initial phases of the disaster lied about the amount of radiation that was coming in and tried

in tokyo thousands demonstrate for clean energy three months after an earthquake triggered the fukushima nuclear crisis which there's still no end in sight. to risk in switzerland tried to breach the wall of silence surrounding one of the world's most secretive and influential galleries demanding the builder bird group constantly on one particular. kind of ball with the twenty four three two winter olympics sochi is prepared to host the pair of the big games and we follow the major construction efforts aiming to make the city a more hospitable place for people with disabilities. it's five pm in moscow this is r g coming survive i mean he's now with our top story this saturday three months on japan is struggling to recover from its toughest crisis since the second world war when a nine magnitude earthquake sent a merciless tsunami which left thousands dead and missing a natural disaster triggered a major radiation leak at the fukushima nuclear facility and it's still on the verge of a full scale nuclear catastrophe our correspondent sean thomas is in tokyo where anger over the situation i

you're watching r t with me and he said now way it's two pm here in the russian capital seven pm in tokyo japan and it's exactly three months since the devastating earthquake and tsunami hit the country calls and widespread destruction and leaving some sixteen thousand people dead the nuclear crisis that followed shows no sign of abating as radiation continues to leak forcing tens of thousands of evacuees into crowded shelters our correspondent sean thomas is in tokyo where anger over the situation is spilling onto the streets . of course it is the three months after they got a standing earthquake and tsunami which rocked to japan and devastated the fukushima region of course creating the nuclear disaster at the tepco daiichi power plant where we now know that three reactors have melted down and possibly melted throughout today is a very interesting day out of tepco headquarters in central tokyo thousands of people have gathered so much in support of nuclear power believe it or not and thousands more who are walking the streets in organized protests carrying signs and banners and shouting

and possibly melted throughout today is a very interesting day at the tepco headquarters in central tokyo thousands of people have gathered some in support of nuclear power believe it or not and thousands more who are walking the streets and organize protests carrying signs and banners and shouting out slogans through loudspeakers against nuclear power saying that there needs to be alternative sources of energy of all this of course and for the tepco headquarters the company responsible for the daiichi power plant and one of the reasons why this is important is that within the past week new information has come out saying that tepco at the initial phases of the disaster lied about the amount of radiation those coming in and tried to downplay the situation saying that the radiation levels were not as bad that there could possibly be a meltdown then of course this past week it was revealed that they cut those numbers in half in fact i haven't i don't know the government is not providing proper information and people young and old want to know the truth of the course of the situation with th