Japan Raises Nuclear Event Alert Level to 5

[FourScore]

Japan Raises Nuclear Event Alert Level to 5

Jesus Diaz — Japan Raises Nuclear Event Alert Level to 5Following the "highly likely" meltdown of the uranium rods at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant—after a drop in liquid levels caused by a lack of fuel in the water pumping machines—the Japanese government has raised the nuclear alert level to 5: "Accident with wider consequences."

According to the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale, this means:

Impact on People and Environment

• Limited release of radioactive ­material likely to require i­mplementation of some planned­ countermeasures.
• Several deaths from ­radiation.
Impact on Radiological Barriers and Control

• Severe damage to reactor core.
• Release of large quantities of radioactive material within an installation with a high probability of significant public exposure. This could arise from a major criticality accident or fire.

An example of this accident was the March 28, 1979 Three Mile Island in Harriburg, Philadelphia, where design and operation errors lead to partial exposure of nuclear fuel rods and partial meltdown. As a result, radioactive gases were released to the atmosphere...

http://gizmodo.com/#!5781818/japan-raises-nuclear-event-alert-level-to-5

[marions ghost]

1. makes ya wonder

how they define #6 -- "Serious Accident"

[gkhouston]

6. Me, I'm hoping they don't have to create an "8" to describe this. n/t

[TheMightyFavog]

7. Well Chernobyl was a level seven. Top of the scale.

There is one known level six incident. The Kyshtym disaster in the USSR in the 50s.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyshtym_disaster

[CJvR]

8. There has been one cat-6...

...the exploding liquid waste tanks at the Mayak plutonium factory south of Ekaterinburg.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayak

[suffragette]

2. Damn

I wonder if that is also because more radiation might have been released due to the recent explosion.


Can you correct the chart to show level 4 rather than two level 5's?

[CJvR]

3. Yeah...

...having huge explosions blowing the roofs off your reactors might indicate a slight problem.

Running out of fuel is just...

[TheMightyFavog]

4. That was just an outer building housing the containment shell, not the containment shell proper

The Conataiment shells are still holding.... for now...

[CJvR]

9. I know...

...it is still an indicator that there might be a slight problem.

[pinto]

5. Just a note on clarity, fwiw - The TMI Level 5 was in Category "Radiological Barriers and Control"

not "Impact on People and Environment".

IAEA's definition for "Barriers and Control" reads - covers events without any direct impact on people or the environment and only applies inside major facilities. It covers unplanned high radiation levels and spread of significant quantities of radioactive material confined within the installation.

http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Factsheets/English/ines.pdf

I don't mean to minimize anything, but with the varying array of reports making the internet rounds, I feel it's important that info be as accurate as possible. The blogger in this instance just got it wrong. ~ pinto

[truedelphi]

10. Thank you for this information. Good to know. n/t

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. Roamer and me did that last night

:-) I hate to say this but it will reach six SOON