Japan Raises Nuclear Crisis to Chernobyl Level

An aerial view of the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Fukushima prefecture, northeastern Japan. Photo by EPA/BGNES

The Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan, NISA, announced Tuesday they have raised the severity rating of the crisis at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant to the highest level, seven.

The decision reflects the ongoing total release of radiation at Fukushima and not a sudden deterioration.

NISA point out this is a preliminary assessment which requires further technical evaluation by experts, adding level seven means a "major accident" with "wider consequences" than the previous level.

Reporting the commission's decision, the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, informed previous level five ratings had been provided separately for accidents at Reactors 1, 2 and 3 but had now been combined as a single event. Another affected unit, Reactor 4, has retained its level three rating.

Level five is the same as that of the accident at Three Mile Island in the US in 1979. Level seven previously only applied to the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in the Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union, where 10 times as much radiation was emitted.

Many experts believe the leaks in Japan are still small compared to those at Chernobyl while Japanese Prime Minister, Naoto Kan, is quoted saying radiation leaks at Fukushima were declining.

There have been no fatalities and risks to human health are thought to be low. Nevertheless, Japan has also decided to extend the evacuation zone around the damaged nuclear plant beyond the existing 20-km (12-mile) radius.

Meanwhile a 6.0-magnitude earthquake on Tuesday prompted the plant's operator to evacuate its staff.

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