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plant are asked to remain indoors and close all windows.
The radiations and leaking from the damaged
Fukushima Daiichi plant, albeit reportedly slowing down, has been
occurring continuously since the event started in mid-May 2011. The
continuous release of radiations has prompted the Japanese authorities to
increase the INES severity rating of the crisis from 4.0 (similar to Three
Mile Island) to 7.0 (Similar to Chernobyl).
Each
reactor accident was rated separately. Out of the six reactors, three were
rated level 5, one was rated at a level 3, and the situation as a whole
was rated level 7.
Chernobyl's radiations were sudden
and huge, whereas the Fukushima Daiichi's is gradual and continuous. The
Japanese authorities (Japanese
government's nuclear safety agency)
might have made the decision based on the cumulative radiations coming out
of Fukushima Daiichi plant.
INES is
a tool for promptly communicating to the public in consistent terms the
safety significance of reported nuclear and radiological incidents and
accidents, excluding naturally occurring phenomena, such as radon. The
scale can be applied to any event associated with nuclear facilities, as
well as the transport, storage and use of radioactive material and
radiation sources (International
Atomic Energy Agency).
The INES scale ranges from 1 to 7 with 1 to 3 representing incidents and 4
to 7 representing accidents as follows:
Accidents:
7 Major Accident
6 Serious Accident
5 Accident with wider consequences
4 Accident with local consequences
Incidents:
3 Serious incident
2 Incident
1 Anomaly
0
Deviation (No Safety significances)
In the meantime, authorities said the
radiations from the plant is slowing down and hoped that the plants will
be stabilized soon. The nuclear crisis and the preceding earthquake
and tsunami of March, 2011 have caused Japan a great deal in
infrastructure and human losses. Over 13,000 people are reportedly dead,
close to 15,000 people are missing while several thousands have been made
homeless. Several houses and public infrastructures were destroyed. The
cost of repairs will be huge.
Other Sites:
Fukushima Nuclear Accident Update Log
International Nuclear Events Scale (INES)
World Nuclear Association - Chernobyl Disaster
Japan Travel and
Living Guide
Nuclear Energy
International Nuclear Events Scale
(INES) - pdf version
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