In central japan is continuing procedures to stop a reactor after a core injunction ordered the shutdown. Japan is about to mark the fifth anniversary of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident. Well look back at what happened that day and the struggle to recover from one of the worst Nuclear Accidents in history. North korean leaders are lashing out over south korea sanctions. They fired what are believed to have been two scud missiles toward the sea of japan. And they say theyll seize all south korean assets on their soil. Seouls sanctions include a ban on foreign ships that have visited the north. Officials in pyongyang say theyll tear up all deals with the south. They say theyll litigationed by date all south korean assets north of the border. Some of those assets lie at the kaisong Industrial Complex which the two koreas used to run together. Seoul suspended operations last month. South korean businesses pulled out. The north then said it boo close the complex down. Other south korean assets remain at the mt. Kumgan tourist center. I guess practi operations there have been suspended the past eight years. The south Korean Defense Ministry Said the north had fired two shortrange missiles. Both missiles are believed to have flown around 500 kilometers and fallen into the sea of japan. Japanese leaders spoke out. Translator its a clear violation of u. N. Security council resolutions. It is extremely regrettable since the council has just adopted a new resolution on north korea following its recent nucleew particular nuclear test Ballistic Missile launch. Prime minister shinzo abe got a briefing from the National Security council. He also got details of a protest his government lodged with north korea through diplomats in beijing. Workers are in the process of shut down a Nuclear Reactor in central japan one day after a Court Injunction ordered the operator to do so. Kansai electric Power Company workers started inserting control rods into the takahama plant number three reactor around 10 00 a. M. Local time. The procedure will gradually stop the reactor and is expected to be finished by the evening. The Otsu District Court ruled on wednesday that the operator has not offered wait explanation how it would prevent and deal with accidents and other emergencies. The injunction also included the shutting down of the number four reactor, but the operator had already done so last month due to a technical problem. Kansai electric Officials Say they plan to appeal shortly. Japans chief cabinet secretary says the government will continue to promote restarting Nuclear Reactors despite the injunction. Translator the reactors were judged by the Nuclear Regulation authority to have met new injun. Translator the reactors were judged by the Nuclear Regulation authority to have met new regulations said to be the worlds toughest. The government honors that judgment. Suga added the government has no plan to review those regulations. On march 11, 2011, a massive earthquake hit northeastern japan. It triggered a huge tsunami and caused one of the worst Nuclear Accidents in history at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power plant. In this installment of our series journey from disaster, we take an indepth look at efforts to respond to the nuclear disaster. Workers and engineers are facing a broad range of challenges as they begin the lengthy process of decommissioning the plant. Five years after the accident, inspection of the reactors has just begun. Heres a look at the situation now. Reporter last october photos of the containment vessel for the First Time Since the disaster. They detected radiation Strong Enough to kill a human in about six hours. It caused the dots and lines in the these pictures. The images show that the cast iron floor is heavily rusted from Long Exposure to water used for cooling. But workers had to abandon attempts to view the bottom of the vessel. The water was too dirty. The 2011 tsunami and earthquake knocked out the plants cooling system. As the reactor fuel rods heated to over 2,000 degrees celsius, they began to melt. Three reactors at the site went into meltdown. Hydrogen explosions followed. The blast at three reactor buildings discharged radioactive materials across wide areas of northeastern japan. Five years later, tepco engineers are still struggling to find where and how the melted fuel is located. They assume it has melted through the core and fallen to the bottom of the containment vessels. But no one really knows. Tepco set up a company to take charge of decommissioning the plant. The man at the top is aware of his responsibility. Translator we must be careful about radiation exposure for everybody. Those who work at the plant as well as local residents. We must carry out this decommissioning work to decrease the risk of exposure. Reporter he says the most important part of the process is collecting data on the melted fuel. Translator finding out where the melted fuel is is important. We have to remove it or the process will never finish. We need to find out where it is. Then we can develop a method to remove it. Reporter while tepco struggles to deal with the reactors, local residents face their own challenges. Radiation levels around the plant remain extremely high. No one is allowed to enter the areas marked in red. People can enter the yellow areas during the day but they cant stay overnight. 100,000 people are still unable to return to their homes. Many people lost their hometown in an instant. And they are struggling to rebuild their lives. Translator its not only material things i lost. I lost my future too. My job and my livelihood were taken away. Tomiyoko town straddles the evacuation zones. Oko town strad evacuation zones. Town straddle evacuation zones. A town straddl evacuation zones. Reporter we can come here but no one is allowed to live here. As you can see, massive tsunami hit the area. And the house over there, the walls are all torn down. And you can see through it. And thats what happened five years ago. And it still exists as it was. And all this is the center of the town. The hotels, the shops are around. As you can see, reconstruction has just started. And you dont see anything here. And where we stand is a railway station. That was the main place of the town. This is the main transportation for everybody around here. But not in use. And you can see the track, is weeds are all over. The contamination work is we take all this debris or grass or all the things contaminated with radioactive particles, take out. But theres another problem. Those wastes have to be stored somewhere else. As you can see, the black bags over there, thats what theyre filled with, waste, with radioactive particles. So you have to deal with this. Because the volume of this waste is so big. So large. So we have to minimize the volume. And if you go through it, if you see this White Building inside, thats where the process is going on. And thats where those wastes are going. Inside, there are huge amounts of debris. The byproduct of the contamination work. Everything in here is radioactive garbage from the region. The facility started operations last may and it runs around the clock 24 hours a day. They pick up a load of waste and take it over to be burned. As you can see, this building is pressurized. So that the pressure inside the building is lower than outside. The aim is that they want to contain any of those radioactive particles inside the building. The debris is incinerated at 10,000 degrees celsius. Its reduced to ashes. Its volume, only 20 of the regional. Workers here say they use filters to prevent any contaminated particles from being released into the environment. The ashes from the fire are still radioactive. So they will be stored at this facility for the time being. The government is currently building a temporary storage facility. There is no set date for its construction to be finished. Once all the debris is clear and the decontamination work is finished, the next part of the process can start. The process of rebuilding. Meanwhile, about nine kilometers from here, theres a much longer process under way. And unless we safely decommission this crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant, the economic revival will not happen. Prime minister abe has reiterated his commitment to rebuilding the areas hit by the disaster. Translator we cannot revitalize japan unless tohoku recovers. We are committed to making tohoku a place full of hope. Today i renew that commitment. Cabinet members approved a basic reconstruction plan for the coming five years. They want a total budget worth 280 billion for the 10 years since the disaster. Translator fukushima was hit hard by the nuclear accident. Now it is becoming a base for new kinds of energy with Companies Involved in solar Power Generation and lithium ion batteries. New industries are springing up in areas hit by the natural disaster. Over the next five years, we will secure enough funds to help people in those areas stand on their own feet. Abe promised to tackle challenges at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Translator the government will continue to do all it can for the decommissioning and the management of contaminated water. Abe says his government will push ahead with decontamination of communities around the Nuclear Plants so evacuees can return home as soon as possible. On thursday, children from the devastated region delivered a report about their lives and how theyre recovering. Translator after the disaster i lost hope and dreams. After support i found a purpose to live. Now im ready to step forward using the tough experiences of the stepping stone. Reporter dozens of students from disasterhit areas told their tales of suffering on thursday. They talked about the difficulties they faced and stressed the need for lawmakers to continue supporting the regions children. The event was organized by a network of several npo groups and toya university. The children said with help they are able to stand on their feet again and have found new hope for the future. On march 11th, 2011, a substantial number of children lost their parents. Their neighborhoods were swept away. Children were forced into unfamiliar environments and many went through serious emotional problems. Some said they had no hope for the future. This place in iwate is one way the Network Helps children. It opened in the coastal town soon after the disaster. The afterschool facility is not only a place for teenagers to study, its a place to drop by when they need company, friends or mentors. Translator for me, zonta house is another home. Its a place where everyone meets. Its fun to chat with the people there and ive learned a lot from them. Reporter but there are still challenges for support groups in the region. One expert explained the networks latest survey on the mental state of the children. He said some still lack selfconfidence. But more of them feel wanted in society. And more have better hopes for the future. There are worries that the gains could be at risk. Its been five years and many volunteer groups are withdrawing from the region. Still, one of the childrens closest mentors said this event reassures her the children can recover. Translator this fiveyear anniversary marks a cornerstone for all of us. Were coming to an important stage. We want to mark a new phase of the recovery process. Reporter and it might be as the children become young adults, they say they want to give back and help those younger than them. Translator now its my turn to create opportunities for younger children to gather and meet people. I want more children to join us, to improve our future. Reporter its a sign of hope that something good can come from the disaster. Youre watching newsline live from tokyo. Chinas leaders are battling excess production in their factories and weak demand from consumers. Gene otani has the details on that and all other business headlines, gene . Thanks, james. Chinese government Officials Say Producer Prices in february were down nearly 5 from a year earlier. The decline was less steep than in january, but the index has now fallen by more than 4 for 14 months in a row. The officials blame a slump in prices for coal, plastic products, and cars. They say chinas Consumer Price indetection was up 2. 3 year on year but below the governments 3 target. Cold weather affected crops. Consumer prices were up 1 excluding food. Economists point to overcapacity in the Manufacturing Sector causing supply to outstrip demand and they warn rising food prices may dampen consumer spending. The figures drove chinese shares into negative territory. The shanghai composite lost 2 , closing at 2804 for the close. Analysts say strong cpi results diminish hopes for further stimulus measures by the government. Moving on to seoul, south korea, kospi adding 0. 8 , 1969 for the close there. The highest level in more than two months. The gains came after the bank of korea kept its key Interest Rate unchanged at a record low 1. 5 . Hong kong hang seng down by just a fraction. Real estate shares are down on speculation that the Chinese Government may tighten control over property prices. Sydneys s p 500 asx200 index declining by. 14 , edging lower after hitting a twomonth high on wednesday. Shares in tokyo had strong gains. The nikkei climbed over 200 points. For details we go to the tokyo stock exchange. Many investors went bargain hunting after three days of losses. The nikkei indoection rose for the first time in four days to end at 16,852. The topix gained, posting 1. 5 increase. The yen weakened against the dollar during tokyo trading hours. Oil futures hit a threemonth high and gave investors an appetite for risk. They sold off safer assets including the japanese currency. Exportoriented companies are trading higher on the weaker yen. Both sony and mazda climbed over 4 . Yamaha ended 5. 3 higher. A big drag on the markets was can s Kansai Electric power after a Court Ordered a shutdown of two of its Nuclear Reactors at the t Takahama Nuclear plant. Tepco is of course the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi plant. Some Market Players are avoiding active trading ahead of the policy meeting of the European Central bank on thursday. The focus is on how asian markets will react friday to the decision from the ecb and president mario draggis speech. Honda engineers have designed a fuel cell vehicle they say can go 30 further than their previous models. They say the clarity fuel cell car covers 750 kilometers on a single charge. Designers reduce theize of the powergenerating system, freeing up enough space to accommodate five people. Executives say honda is starting by leasing the cars to japanese businesses and government entities. Theyll offer them to domestic consumers next year. They also plan to sell the vehicle in the u. S. Analysts say japans market for fuel cell cars is Still Limited by high price tags and a shortage of hydrogen filling stations. Delegates from across china are gathering in beijing for the National Peoples congress. Government leaders announced last week eir latt fiveyr plan to run fro 2016 to 20. E new policies aim for average Economic Growth of at least 6. 5 . The plan requires Stateowned Enterprises to follow market principles. It also says companies with overcapacity should be consolidated. This means Many Enterprises will shut down. The new hi created companies will be expected to turn out highend valueadded products. Further, the plan says Economic Growth must be in line with environmental protection. This week chinas top policymakers unveiled concrete measures to realize the latest fiveyear plan. My colleague ai uchida started by asking kim how the government plans to restructure the poorly performing stateowned companies. Policymakers said they would take the private sector facilities and inject it into companies. Private corporations will be allowed to purchase stock in the state companies and theyll have a voice in management too. This will support the state Enterprises Become more efficient and also have them acquire knowhow. The government will also introduce a system, salaries based on performance. This should help attract more talented workers. The policymakers want to expand these measures into public areas such as power utilities and transportation. I understand Many Communist Party officials are taking up posts at stateowned companies. Doesnt this provoke some backlash . Some analysts say bureaucrats and highranking Party Members can get special treatment at the Stateowned Enterprises in the form of bribes, for example. They may resist giving this up. At the press conference this problem was raised with the chairman of the National Development and reform commission. He said that as far as he knows he didnt think these would be resistant to the reforms but he agreed the government faced a challenge. Translator reform will be difficult. Well have to change drastically how to divide profits, scrap Current Company structures, and build new ones. We cant deny there will be problems. Another problem is companies that are overproducing. Businesses are consolidated and the enterprises crash. Even the government predicts that in the steel and the coal industriesunmistakably performing poorly. 1. 8 million workers around the country will lose their job. That may understandably be huge opposition to these kinds of reforms. Can the government really pull them off . The government affairs, it recognizes this kind of pain is part of fixing chinas economy. It will set aside 100 billion yuan or more than 15 billion in this years budget to give reemployment assistance to people who are laid off. Until now Public Administration fears has been waived for enterprises. In the 2016 project there will be a way for all businesses and individua individuals, to 75 billion to keep the economy some fiscal support. The National Minister says the government will take aggressive fiscal measures to alleviate the hardest hit. He said china can do this because in comparison to other countries, it has small deficits in relation to its gdp. Translator the important thing is that fiscally, china has a lot of room for debt. This flexibility will sustain the country. Especially as it carries out its supply side reforms. Chinese leaders also stress a new focus on the environment. The government plans to revise Protection Measures to comply with controls on pollution. The latest fiveyear plan includes a goal to lower Carbon Dioxide emissions by 18 . For the first time chinas taking on the difficult task of reforms while maintaining its growth of 6. 5 or more. Heres a look at some of the other stories were looking at. Members of a Japanese Government Panel have drafted a proposal for ways to boost gdp to about 5 trillion by 2020. The proposal includes steps to address the low birth rate and an aging population. It says school meals and health care for children should be free. Toyota motor executives plan to raise the base pay for their workers, making it the third year in a row theyve done so. Union representatives are asking for monthly increase of about 26. Management is still considering how high to go. Thats it for business news. Ill leave you with the markets. Japanese researchers say theyve made a major breakthrough in regenerative medicine. Theyve developed a technique using ips cells to create cells that can be turned into various tissues in the human eye. Professor koji nishida heads the Osaka University research group. He says his team applied a protein to human ips cells and cultivated them for a mor. This what is theyve got. Each of the clusters has four layers nerves, ret na, lens, and cornea. They created a cornea with the cells and transplanted it into a rabbit. They say the cornea worked properly. Translator the result gives new life to our goal. We hope to use the Regenerative Technology to cure people. Nishida says conventionalxi mrs. France 24 live around the world. Burma announces its candidate for president. Bar from running herself, it is her close friend and driver who will be her proxy. State prosecutors in brazil filed charges against
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