Japan Nuke Crisis Rating 'Same As Chernobyl'
8:43am UK, Tuesday April 12, 2011
Japan has raised the severity of its nuclear crisis to the highest level - putting it on a par with the Chernobyl disaster.
The increased rating from five to seven came after another major aftershock in the east of the country.
Officials said the new rating reflected the initial severity of the crisis, rather than the existing risks.
A spokesman told a press conference the radiation levels emitted following the accident at the Fukushima 1 nuclear plant were only 10% of those found at Chernobyl.
The figure, however, only relates to radiation discharged to the air and not water-borne contamination that has leaked or been pumped into the surrounding sea.
"This is a preliminary assessment, and is subject to finalisation by the International Atomic Energy Agency," said an official at the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.
Associate professor Murray Jennex, nuclear industry specialistIt's nowhere near (the Chernobyl) level. Chernobyl was terrible - it blew and they had no containment, and they were stuck.
Nuclear industry specialist Murray Jennex, an associate professor at San Diego State University in California, dismissed the comparison.
"It's nowhere near that level," he said.
"Chernobyl was terrible - it blew and they had no containment, and they were stuck.
"Their (Japan's) containment has been holding, the only thing that hasn't is the fuel pool that caught fire."
The Fukushima plant suffered a number of explosions after the tsunami
The revised rating was announced after a 6.3 aftershock struck off the coast of Chiba, 48 miles (77km) northwest of Tokyo.
Japan's main international airport Narita closed runways for checks but later resumed flights.
It was one of hundreds of aftershocks since March 11, when a huge magnitude 9.0 earthquake and 15 metre tsunami hit northeast Japan.
The quake triggered the country's worst crisis since World War Two.
Nearly 28,000 Japanese are dead or missing and the world's third-largest economy is grappling with power blackouts, factory closures and cuts to supply lines.