Japan to raise nuclear crisis rating to Chernobyl level

----------------------------------------


Breaking News Alert: Japan to raise nuclear crisis rating to Chernobyl level

April 11, 2011 9:40:24 PM

----------------------------------------

Japanese authorities planned Tuesday to raise their rating of the severity of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear crisis to the highest level on an international scale, equal to that of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, according to the Kyodo news agency.

A level 7 accident, according to the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale, is typified by a “major release of radioactive material with widespread health and environmental effects.”

http://link.email.washingtonpost.com/r/YLCS8G/XTOG51/4ZK1DU/S5QVUH/1QSEX/OS/h
For more information, visit washingtonpost.com
----------------------------------------
Get closer to the story. Download The Washington Post app for iPad.
http://itunes.com/app/thewashingtonpostforipad
----------------------------------------