Japan’s nuclear safety agency has raised the severity rating of the crisis at its nuclear plant to the highest level, on par with the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
An official with the Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan, speaking on national television, said Tuesday the rating was raised from 5 to 7.
The official, who was not named, said the amount of radiation leaking from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant was around 10% of that in the Chernobyl accident.
Meanwhile, workers at Japan’s tsunami-stricken nuclear power complex discovered a small fire near a reactor building Tuesday but it was extinguished quickly, the plant’s operator said.
Tokyo Electric Power Co., which operates the disabled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, said the fire at a box that contains batteries in a building near the No. 4 reactor was discovered at about 6:38 a.m. Tuesday and was put out seven minutes later.
It wasn’t clear whether the fire was related to a magnitude-6.3 earthquake that shook the Tokyo area Tuesday morning. The cause of the fire is being investigated.
“The fire was extinguished immediately. It has no impact on Unit 4’s cooling operations for the spent fuel rods,” said TEPCO spokesman Naoki Tsunoda.
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2 Responses
What is left out of this article is WHY they raised the level.
@1: because it meets the international standard:
” Major release of radioactive material with widespread health and environmental effects requiring implementation of planned and extended countermeasures.”
Why it took this long is another question.