exactly how ready is the sendai reactor? >> well, i think that the new japanese regulator has done a great job ensuring this reactor is being ready to restarted. i don't claim that the japanese regulatory system is perfect or any regulator world wied is perfect and any source including nuclear power is completely safe. but i think i have service that the nuclear reactor is ready to be restarted. >> how have things been like with japan dependent on oil and gas imports? >> right. there hasn't been a nuclear reactor operating in japan since january 2013. japan has managed to keep the lights on but that's come at a significant cost. there's been a huge cost in oil and gas imports. and those have been priced, passed on to the consumers in many areas with japanese electricity rates now about 30% above where they were before the fukushima accident at least in some areas. >> so can you tell me this: if japan has had outrageous, probably if you look at their utility bills, outrageous cost, compared that to the cost japan occurred fro

but the reactors at sendai use a different system. contaminated water does not flow into the turbine. it stays within a container. experts say this poses less risk to the environment. under the new regulations, plant operators are required to take measures to deal with severe accidents. they must draw up emergency scenarios for bigger earthquakes and tsunami than before. government regulators check the plans and two reactors in the sendai plant passed the screenings. some people say the requirements aren't enough to guarantee the safety of local residents. municipalities within 30 kilometers of the plant were required to draft evacuation plans, but they haven't had the time to adapt them. some roads are too narrow with no room for people to evacuate on foot. kagoshima prefecture has begun widening roads, but officials say the work could take as long as eight years to complete. despite these concerns, japanese officials have stressed their determination to bring more nuclear plants back online. >> translator: we have gotten cabinet's a

the seismic risks near the sendai reactors. japan has many earthquake in history. and that kind of risk applies to all the reactors in japan. >> so if there are so many risks involved in restarting the sendai nuclear reactor why do you think japan's government is restarting it at this time and turning back to the country's nuclear industry to provide the nation's energy for now and indeed for the future? >> yes, the japanese government recently announced that their energy mix in 2030 and in that target, the abe government says that 22% of the japanese electricity will come from nuclear in 2030. on the other hand, a greenpeace analysis found that the 2 to 8% will come from nuclear. so even if one of the nuclear reactor will restart, the japanese nuclear industry is still in crisis. >> all right, i'd like to thank ai kashiwagi from greenpeace. thanks for joining us and explaining some of the details there. we appreciate it. >> thank you for inviting me. >>> the italian coast guard says it helped rescue more than 1500 migrants off

but the reactors at sendai use a different system. contaminated water does not flow directly to the turbine. it stays within a container. experts say this poses less risk to the environment. under the new regulations, plant operators are required to take measures to deal with severe accidents. they must draw up emergency scenarios for bigger earthquakes and tsunamis. government regulators check the plants, and two reactors in the sevndai plant passed the screenings. some people say the requirements aren't enough to guarantee the safety of local residents. municipalities within 30 kilometers of the plant were required to draft evacuation plans, but they haven't had the time to adapt them. some roads are too narrow with no room for people to evacuate on foot. kagoshima prefecture has begun widening roads, but officials say the work could take as long as eight years to complete. despite these concerns, japanese officials have stressed their determination to bring more nuclear plants back online. >> translator: we have gotten cabinet appr

engineers in the sendai plant brought it to full capacity. they plan to have checks september 10th. it will generate elericity for customers the same day. it would be the first to do so under regulations created after the nuclear accident in fukushima four years ago. they restarted earlier there month. a problem with the cooling system delayed plans. workers were able resume those efforts last week. >>> except for the reactor at the sendai plant, all of japan's nuclear reactors are offline. >>> police in bangkok say they found bomb making materials in the suspect's apartment. they arrested a man on his role in a deadly attack at a shrine and explosion. they suspect the blasts are for retaliation. >> police are questioning a foreign man on saturday for its alleged involvement in the august 17th bombing that killed five people and another bbing the same day. the man's name remains unknown. police searched his apartment and confiscated turkish passports and metal balls similar to the ones used in the attack. the spokesperson says it may have to deal with the group handling fake passpor

. >> the sendai plant is set to be the first since fukushima to restart. harry fawcett, al jazeera, tokyo. >> and staying with that story, there have been protests of the restarting of sendai power plant. it will be the first to go back on line under new safety standards following the fukushima disaster. >>> hundreds have gathered in kabul to remember victims of friday's bomb attacks. candles were lit in memory of the 44 that were killed in the afghan capital. highest number of civilian casualties in a single day since 2009. taliban says it was behind one of the bombings. >>> let's stay in afghanistan. more than 40% of children under the age of 5 are stunted because of malnutrition. but a new addition to the afghan diet could help ease this chronic problem. from kabul jennifer glasse explains. >> mohammed says he has tripled his soybean crop from last year that's because the flour from last year's crop was such a suck. >> they mixed it fro with the regular flour and people like it, it kept the bread fresh and there was lots of protein. >> a better option t

the operator of the sendai nuclear power plant is going to restart the official reactor tuesday morning. once online, it will be the first to operate under stricter regulations. officials have reported to regulators their plan to activate the number one reactor. the unit has been undergoing mandatory inspections by the nuke cheer regulation authorities since march. the operator says it will carefully monitor all equipment for potential ab formalities as the facility has been offline for more than four years. japan has been without nuclear power since september, 2013. members of the group has organized a protest in response to the facility. they say about 350 people are participatin participating. >> the resistance haven't been able to discuss the safety with the authorities. >> the group plans to continue zrakt on tuesday. >>> officials and towns near the sendai plant have been drafting emergency plans. they are figuring out how residents would evacuate if there is an accident. some are questioning whether an evacuation would be possible. nhk surveyed nine moount municipality, officials

the sendai reactor in southern japan is the first to begin operating under new safety rules. it marks japan's return to nuclear energy after the 2011 meltdown at the fukushima power plant. tom o'sullivan joins me live from tokyo. thank you for joining us here on al jazeera. despite the protests, japan have gone ahead with this. was it the right thing for them to do? >> i think that there are several aspects to this. as you said, reactors have been off-line for almost two years. so japan has the highest, among the countries, it has the highest level of energy dependency in g 7 and oecd. it's the second after lux upburg. japan needs to improve its energy situation. nuclear helps to do that and reduces coal and natural gas imports. >> my problem with this is that we very clearly seen that japan is vulnerable to natural disasters. should they be relying on nuclear energy? >> right. well, i mean immediately after the accident a new nuclear regulatory authority was establish in japan. so, you know, they have implemented extremely tight security rules around the operation of nuclear

the people in sendai, the far south. southern main island of japan, when we went down there, there is a split opinion. the chamber of commerce was keen to get this very important local industry back on-line. but there is also concern there among residents about the evacuation plan, for instance, that is the responsibility of the local government. a lot say that should be the responsibility of tokyo or the power company itself, that would give them more accountability and, therefore, more faith in the system. and more broadly, on a national scale, about 60% of japanese people are against this plan to restart reactors despite the continued arguments from the prime minister which he's been making since he came to office in 2012 reversing the policy of the previous government, saying it's vital for japan's economy. >> does japan have any other energy sources apart from nuclear and the coal that it's been importing in since the power plants were shut down? what else does it have locally? >> well, it has geothermal energy, it

thehe case of sendai, sendai reactors are among the .ery most recent ones they were finished around 1984. as opposed to fukushima, which was finished in 1970. so they are more moderate. they are in a safer area, which is very important, from the point of view of earthquakes. that is the good side. the bad side is the general is,ic, the master concept do you want an energy transition in japan as in the rest of the world, or do you want to keep fighting to keep the old companies, the old prophets, the old organizations, so-called nuclear village, between the government, the companies, and their owners? that is the basic question. so there are three problems. safety, reprocessing, waste. and at annette: talk about the environmental processes. if japan does a major restart with going up to say, 20% of the energy that they need, that means they are going to restart reactors in places faultsou have geological . japan is the worst place in the world to build a reactor anyway -- that isall the how japan was built. is definitely not viable for long-term. because at one time or another, there is g

this plan to restart its reactor in sendai, north of tokyo. fukushima plant where of course the meltdown happened after the devastating tsunami. they would be one of the first to restart. nuclear power controversial in japan. economy, huge country with huge power needs. certainly there is a case to be made for nuclear power. japan has been importing lng at a significant cost. there is a debate. tokyo down in the session. this utilitypower, provides power to the osaka area. getting an uplift on news it will, or is intending to restart the reactor in sendai. we know sunday, if you drive to those places that were devastated by the tsunami. thatwill strike a nerve in region for those people who suffered. we will watch the stock and the story out of japan, angie. angie: that is notable. you are so following shipbuilders. zeb: we have shipbuilders suspended in hong kong on speculation there will be a merger. in china shipping and cause go. we will get you details. these stocks have been moving in the shanghai market, leading the market higher. we wi

. >> the sendai power plant was reacted today for first time in four years. it was the first time to go back online under a set of new, more stringent regulations put in place following a series of meltdowns at the fukushima plant, which were triggered by the massive earthquake and tsunami. the plant was chosen partly because the area thought to be less prone to be hit by a major earthquake. but still, its safety remains to be a major concern and dozens of protesters gathered in front of the plant opposing the restart. the plant is currently on a test run, and if all goes smoothly, it will start supplying power commercially in early september. reactivating the nuclear plants has been one of the top priorities of the abe administration as japan has been relying on imported fossil fuel for its energy at a huge cost. and a total of 25 plants have applied for reactivation and only 5 have passed the new safety regulations so far. whether they will be put back online depends on how the sendai plan performs, and all eyes are watching how it runs. and that's all from

they resumed operations this week at the sendai plant. they're the first to do so under strict regulations imposed after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. workers at kyushu electric power act slaivated the reactor on tuesday. they say nuclear fission is now self-sustaining. it means they can generate and transmit electricity. company officials say it will take about ten days to reach full output. they will then undergo a comprehensive inspection of the facility. if everything goes smoothly, they'll launch commercial operations early next month. >>> japan's environment minister is urging power companies to reconsider whether their latest targets on reducing greenhouse gases are realistic. 35 power suppliers announced last month they aim to cut emissions by 35% by 2030 compared to the level in 2013. but environment minister is skeptical whether the target can be achieved as many utilities plan to build new coal-fired power plants. he announced that his ministry does not support such plans. coal burning plants produce cheap electricity but em

. >> reporter: this week a reactor at the sendai power plant is due to be the first to restart. and the 70 year relationship with the power of the atom. >>> north korea's government cut food rations as drought conditions destroy crops there. a warm weather pattern is making conditions worse. >>> hundreds have gathered in kabul to remember people killed in a series of explosionings across the afghan capital. the u.s. says the attacks claimed the highest number of casualties since 2009. >>> more than two dozen top u.s. scientists have written a letter of support for the nuclear deal between world powers and iran. the letter to president barack obama calls the agreement innovative. it could be helpful as the president tries to sell the deal to congress. the agreement requires iran to scale back its nuclear program in return for the easing of sanctions. >>> protesters disrupted a campaign speech by the u.s. democratic presidential contender, bernie sanders. >> we are going to give you the money. >> reporter: he started to address several thousand people at a rally in seattle. the pr

spokespersons for kyushu electric power company said the number one reactor at the sendai plant is under inspection by the regulation authority. the final test required for the restart are scheduled for monday. and if everything is fine they intend to turn on the reactor the next day. they say they'll exercise the utmost caution as the facility has been offline for more than four years. local residents are worried about the safety of the plant. dozens of people gathered in front of it to show their opposition to the restart. they say an accident like the one at fukushima could occur in their neighborhood. >> translator: the power company is restarting the plant, even though polls suggest that a majority of people oppose it, we will protest until the end. >> prime minister abe sought public understanding in friday's diet session. >> translator: the government's policy is to proceed with the restart of nuclear plants that satisfy some of the world's toughest regulations, while seeking understanding from the local people. >> abe said he wants the regulators to strictly follow the required s

at the sharpened are the protesters at the sendai nuclear power plant where the guarantees that the authority provided saying there won't be a repeat of fukushima, they can't be believed and the evacuation procedures required there, the responsibility for those procedures remaybes vague. so the opposition remains, but this does obviously present the first step in shinzo abe's plan to get nuclear power back on-line. >> in colorado millions of liters of waste spilled into local streams. and shrimp farming in bangladesh comes at a cost. >> welcome back. the top stories here on allegers. more than a hundred people have been arrested in ferguson on the second day of the protests marking a year since a police officer killed michael brown. sunday's largely peaceful protest culminated in another black teenager being shot by police. a state of emergency has been declared. protests have been held over japan's return to nuclear energy. the first of 25 reactors restarted under new safety rules. nuclear plants have been shut down after the fukushima meltdown after an earthquake in 2011. and baqouba has be

. >>> meanwhile, protests have been taking place across japan ahead of the reopening of the sendai nuclear power plant. a safety check will take place on monday. if successful, the reactor could be restarted as early as tuesday. it will be the first to go back on-line following the fukushima disaster. >>> still to come, a sad homecoming. the remains of peru's war victims are returned to loved ones. plus, senegal has given unwanted children a new quest in life. this is a great place to work. not because they have yoga meetings and a juice bar. because they're getting comcast business internet. comcast business offers convenient installation appointments that work around your schedule. and it takes- done. - about an hour. get reliable internet that's up to five times faster than dsl from the phone company. call 800-501-6000 to switch today. perks are nice. but the best thing you can give your business is comcast business. comcast business. built for business. >> welcome back. a reminder of our top stories. haitians are preparing to vote in long overdue parliamentary elections. parliament was

crews re=started the number 1 reactor at its sendai nuclear plant today. it's the first reactor to begin operating under new safety requirements - after the fukushima disaster in 20-11. an earthquake and tsunami triggered radioactive contamination in the area. more than 100-thousand people were displaced. all of japan's nuclear power plants have been shut down over the past two years. >> brian :and we have lots of fog coming now through the golden gate bridge as it is hard to see out there tonight as the clouds roll in. this weather system is going to sit around all week and keep things fairly mild around here without much of a change in temperatures tonight tomorrow we will watch the fog clear to about 11 by the bay, and then sunshine and a couple clouds in the afternoon, with gusty winds in the afternoon hours coming from the ocean and producing a little bit of rain and out in the ocean, macleod's coming into the base for tonight but as i mentioned the this is not able to move to the east as it is hitting a block in a weather pattern and after it goes by

you can find out the latest as the protest grow on the reopening the sendai plant. www.aljazeera.com. i'm david schuster in for ali velshi tonight. money for nothing. taxpayers foot the bill. how we can close america's wage gap. convincing taxpayers that it pays to host big sporting events in their city becomes larder to do. boston dropped its bid for olympics in 2024. would have been covered by private developers, taxpayers complained they would still be on the hook for $600 million. mayor dumped the bid. the olympics are one thing but the national football league is another. nfl owners are used to cajoling cities into slick new stadiums in threats to leave. los angeles bolted for st. louis, leaving l.a. without a team. now the san diego chargers are threatening to move to l.a. unless cities come up with gows financingenerous fundings for aw stadium. between twod 2000 an 2000 and 2010, lost property taxes the team owners are able to force cities to pick up in its new stadium construction. of course the sports teams and their owners insist there's a return on the investment for that p

the idea of the japanese was to pincers.quote, aerial thesend -- sendai as -- they believed it could have been a stepping even thea or perhaps main invasion site. but critically they thought of this as being a site that we could go into, and indeed that wasn't -- that was one of the sites that we had looked at. it was discarded because it could be very easily reinforced by the japanese. againere looking at this ncers whereial pi they would be coming down on the fleet from the north as well as having struck on the basis in this region. bases were never used for that purpose, but they pointed like a dagger at any soviet landing on hokkaido. air cover with a gaggle of soviet votes was to consist -- was an utterly insufficient and vulnerable force that would have to spend much of its time defending its self and its captured airfields instead of the fleet off of rum oi. the soviets could push reinforcements into the fight, the first of the rear -- reinforcements would not make their appearance for as much as a weak because they are having to do it hard when it comes to going through the e

through next sendais high of 80 today. showers and storms and humid tomorrow been but after that drier skies are back again and warm temps here too with highs low to mid-80s through end of the week. next shower chance later saturday. let's bring in christina stoffo and see if there's any backups out there. we have issues trying to get around town already. good morning. >> couple of issues on new we have one by exit 13 another stall by 15e on western spur. and like i said everything is cleared away. so new jersey turnpike now running up to speed not looking bad if need to travel route 80 at this time so far so good. now we're also going to to take a look up -- lincoln tunnel into town not bad here. here is a live shot around helix around here it gets crowded into the toll plaza but moving along up to speed so lincoln tunnel is a good option. holland george washington bridge also looking good. now switch to the belt parkway if you're traveling by the area kennedy in either direction things are fine for you here. trains right

japan is set to restart a nuclear reactor at the sendai nuclear plant for the first time since the fukushima disaster. >>> ch

showers and/or storms lowing between 62 and 69 and next sendais we have a high of 85 for you tomorrow. again first couple of day of this week are sticky as that swings by but humidity is gone. looks comfortable for rest of the week nice and sunny and warm relatively speaking. a lot of folks will enjoy it again. let's bring in ines rosales not just -- on the roads but rails too. what's going on ines? >> rails a lot of issues with the subway. talk about the roads first fine and taconic. new jersey commute just one thing turnpike 45 miles per hour speed restrictions because of fog between 7 and 8. 8287 looks good. subway problems we have track maintenance and signal problems. track maintenance on one train southbound they're terminating at 14th street. two train some of them are running on five line between 145 and two and three trainings local between 34th street an chaim l beer street. 7 train that's signal problems. northbound express only between 74th an willis point. m train track maintenance on the r line between dekalb avenue and rest of the trains on or close to schedule. robert

this morning, the company restarted one of the reactors at the sendai plant in southwest japan, as people protested outside. thousands marched monday in opposition of the plant's reopening. the move to restart the nuclear reactor comes just days after the 70th anniversary of the u.s. nuclear bombing of hiroshima and nagasaki. i was august 6 and the iraqi august 9, 1945. parliament has passed a sweeping anti-corruption package this morning in response to popular demonstrations that have swept the country in recent weeks. the laws are aimed at opening corruption probes and removing top officials. meanwhile, isil has claimed responsibility for two car bombings that killed nearly 60 people in the eastern iraqi province of diyala on monday. in turkey, a leftist group known as the revolutionary people's liberation army-front has claimed responsibility for the attack on the u.s. consulate in istanbul. two women shot at the consulate on monday. no one was killed, although one -- meanwhile, the united states has sent six f-16 jets and 300 u.s. military personnel to turkey's incirlik air base on su

that is as we go through next sendais high of 82 tomorrow. 79 on friday, and some quick showers try to pop by to the south mainly. and then on saturday, sunday in great shape. you have partly cloudy. highs in lowe 80s next shot at showers comes to you tuesday of next week. apple itunes and google play store. download for free and put it to work immediately. good with dunkin's new cookie-flavored iced coffees. for a limited time, dd perks members can enjoy any sized iced coffee for $1.99. america runs on dunkin'. introducing dunkin's new fruit smoothies. perfectly blended with real fruit and low-fat yogurt. it's a delicious choice you can feel good sipping. discover the goodness of dunkin's new smoothies today. america runs on dunkin'. >> welcome back, traffic on the l.i.e. extra slow than normal because of an earlier accident but a new problem. new england throughway by the hutch so long island expressway had an a accidentwood herman cain boulevard cleared away accident and delays but left this delay extra slow here on l.i.e. between clearview and woodhaven because of that accident. ru

it is close to the sendai nuclear plant at people have been advised to be ready to leave. manus: malaysia's currency has risen, battled by the yuan. slumping oil prices and the looming fed hike. the ringgit has hit lows not seen since 2008. malaysia's reserve bank has decided against capital controls. francine: the latest from tokyo, next. ♪ francine:, welcome to "the pulse," live from london. japan's economy contracted last quarter as consumers cut spending and exports tumbled. 1.6 percent, fell ending two quarters of growth. that was better than estimates of a one point percent drop. -- 1.8% drop. manus: brett miller joins us from tokyo. what do you make of this data, what does it say that abe's challenges are? abe has challenges ahead. getting consumers to spend has been one of the keys to abenomics. to spend sosumers businesses make more products and consumers are just not spending. old habits die hard and japan. anddecades of stagnation consumers are more accustomed to saving them spending. are said, customers reporting higher profits. what we need to see next is co

sendai -- tom: this is not a fukushima. far fromndai is not fukushima. this is the first nuclear reactor to be switched back on since the disaster. there has been major public opposition, but still, it was restarted earlier today in japan. more atomic get stations online in the near future. brendan: that reverberated around the world. germany's energy policy is still reeling from the shift. tom's point at me with a special shock face. tom: let us move on to our next photo. brendan: you do not want to dwell? tom: let us move on. brendan: you do not want to dwell on germany's energy policy? number two, the control room is telling me. julie: let us move on to the next one because we are talking about lettucce ine in space. did you not get that? astronauts will be dining farm is a plan toght eat the first festivals grown and space. red lettuce. veg 01. they grew for 33 days before being harvested. almost: there is an constant feed of scott kelly in the space station on a tv monitor over my shoulder in the newsroom. i feel like he is a part of my workday. jul