Nuclear crisis raised to Chernobyl level

There have been no fatalities resulting from the leaks at Fukushima, and risks to human health are thought to be low.

And the most disturbing thought of this whole Disaster, They keep saying the risk from the radiation is thought to be low... Thought, not really known.

BBC
Japanese authorities have raised the severity rating of their nuclear crisis to the highest level, seven.

The decision reflects the total release of radiation at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi power plant, which is ongoing, rather than a sudden deterioration.

Level seven previously only applied to the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, where 10 times as much radiation was emitted.

There have been no fatalities resulting from the leaks at Fukushima, and risks to human health are thought to be low.

The level seven signifies a "major accident" with "wider consequences" than the previous level, officials say.

But the change has not been made because things have suddenly got worse at the Fukushima plant. Rather, a full assessment of the available data now suggests that a higher rating is justified.

Although the Japanese incident now equates to Chernobyl on the international scale, the two accidents are different in a number of important ways. In Chernobyl it was the reactor core itself that exploded, releasing a huge amount of radioactive material in a very short space of time. Fukushima experienced a less critical hydrogen explosion.

The initial radiation leak amounted to about a 10th of that which escaped from Chernobyl. The major concern in Japan is that the nuclear plant has not yet been brought under control, and some radioactive material is still seeping out.

"We have upgraded the severity level to seven as the impact of radiation leaks has been widespread from the air, vegetables, tap water and the ocean," said Minoru Oogoda of Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (Nisa), the government's nuclear watchdog.