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The Japanese government's nuclear safety agency raised the crisis level of the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant accident from 5 to 7, the worst on the international scale and on par with the Chernobyl accident 25 years ago.
Article found HERE by msnbc.com news services
TEPCO via Reuters
The emission of radioactive substances from the stricken plant is about 10 percent of the amount that had been detected at Chernobyl, the agency said on Tuesday.
However, an official at Tokyo Electric and Power (TEPCO) said later Tuesday that they are concerned that the radiation leakage could eventually exceed the 1986 disaster.
"The radiation leak has not stopped completely and our concern is that it could eventually exceed Chernobyl," a TEPCO official told reportersStory: Chernobyl tours offered 25 years after blast
The Kyodo news agency said the agency estimated the amount of radioactive material released from the reactors in northern Japan reached a maximum of 10,000 terabequerels per hour at one point for several hours, which would classify the incident as a major accident, according to the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES).
The rating reflects the initial severity of the crisis, not the current situation, which has seen radiation levels drop dramatically.
"This is a preliminary assessment, and is subject to finalization by the International Atomic Energy Agency," said an official at the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA), the government's nuclear watchdog, which made the announcement with the Nuclear Safety Commission.
