Japan raises nuclear crisis level
Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency raised the nuclear accident seriousness level at Fukushima power plant from four to five on the International Nuclear Event Scale. A Level 5 emergency involves severe damage to a reactor core, release of large quantities of of radiation and significant public exposure or radiation deaths.
- This satellite image provided by Geoeye shows the Fukushima Dai Ichi nuclear power plant/Photo credit: AP
Japan’s nuclear safety agency raised the severity rating of the country’s nuclear crisis on Friday from Level 4 to Level 5 on a seven—level international scale, putting it on par with the Three Mile Island accident in Pennsylvania in 1979.
Ryohei Shiomi, a spokesman for the nuclear safety agency, said on Friday that the agency raised the rating of the Fukushima Dai—ichi nuclear crisis on the International Nuclear Event Scale. The scale defines a Level 4 incident as having local consequences and a Level 5 incident as having wider consequences.
The hallmarks of a Level 5 emergency are severe damage to a reactor core, release of large quantities of radiation with a high probability of “significant” public exposure or several deaths from radiation.
A partial meltdown at Three Mile Island also was ranked a Level 5. The Chernobyl accident of 1986, which killed at least 31 people with radiation sickness, raised long—term cancer rates, and spewed radiation for hundreds of miles (kilometers), was ranked a Level 7.
France’s Nuclear Safety Authority has been saying since Tuesday that the crisis in north-eastern Japan should be ranked Level 6 on the scale.
