Posted on 08/21/2013 5:02:58 AM PDT by RummyChick
Japan's nuclear agency has upgraded the severity level of a radioactive water leak at the Fukushima plant from one to three on an international scale.
Highly radioactive water was found to be leaking from a storage tank into the ground at the plant on Monday.
It was first classified as a level one incident on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (Ines).
But Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority proposes elevating it to level three on the seven-point scale.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
Time and time again we see this “crescendo” effect on how they (TEPCO etc) report the news. I know these people hate to be disgraced but my gosh, what will the news be tomorrow?
A level 3 event is a “serious event”, but one that does not have consequences outside of the plant itself. This is the equivalent of a fire at the plant, without any other consequences.
Technically, the release of radioactive water into the environment is a level 4 event, “accident with local consequences”, where “Minor release of radioactive material - unlikely to result in implementation of planned countermeasures other than local food controls”
Nevertheless, the INES scale really has no practical meaning and is mainly a tool made for the media. Sort of on par with the number of stars you would give a hotel. An INES rating of 3, or 4, does not trigger any kind of response or change how a situation is to be dealt with.
This is in the groundwater now.
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