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Japan raises severity rating of nuclear accident

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JAPAN (NEWS1130) – Japan’s nuclear safety agency has raised the severity rating of the nuclear accident at the damaged Fukushima plant from four to five on a seven-level international scale.

The scale defines a level four incident as having local consequences and a level five incident as having a wider impact. According to the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency, this level is equivalent to the 1979 incident at Three Mile Island in the United States.

The rating increase comes after comments from head of the UN’s nuclear agency saying Japan is “racing against the clock” at the crippled power plant.

Meanwhile, water continues to be poured on the reactors in an effort to stop them from overheating. The most serious situation is now in reactor 3. Authorities are still trying to reconnect the power supply to restart cooling systems. An emergency generator has reportedly been connected to units 5 and 6 and should allow them to pump water more effectively.

Reuters reports Japanese engineers are weighing the need to bury the Fukushima plant, saying it may be the only way to prevent a catastrophic radiation leak. The same method was used at Chernobyl.

Almost 17,000 people are believed to be dead or missing a full week after the earthquake and tsunami hit the region on March 11th.

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