In reference to a report submitted by the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency¹ (NISA) the level of nuclear radiation has reached that of levels which are at its peak, level 7, the same rating the Chernobyl disaster was given in 1986.
News [Updated]: 9.0 quake and tsunami piles onto Japan
However in reference to the report by NISA only 10% of radiation has been leaked in comparison to Chernobyl “which was assessed on the same level”.
NISA states that, “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.
Level 7 in accordance to INES, the rating scheme run by the International Atomic Energy Agency² (IAEA) states on its website that level 7 indicates a “Major accident”. It is scaled from 1-7 with 7 being the highest at its severity level.
The Japanese authorities have advised people not to go within 12 miles of the nuclear plant which was affected by a 9.0 quake and a massive tsunami which occurred shortly after. Road blockades have also been seen setup by authorities 12 miles from the nuclear plant.
A report by Ryan Drum, PhD, on Iodine 131
To understand the scale of the problem here is to understand what emissions have been released and how much. According to an MSNBC report, “500,000 terabecquerels of radiation from iodine-131” has been released since the incident took place. In comparison to Chernobyl to which they have compared this with, Chernobyl released “5.2 million terabecquerels into the air” – around 10 times more than that of the Fukushima Daiichi plant.
According to Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) the people who operate the Fukushima Daiichi plant have stated that they are slowly getting there into gaining control of their plant. In a news conference they stated that they would soon release a schedule on getting the situation under control.
