Emergency is at a 4 right now, where Chernobyl was a 7. However, they are raising the emergency very soon.
The last ditch effort is seawater. Three partial melt-downs are going on right now. The outer shell has blown off of # 3.
Worse case: Complete meltdown...Chernobyl, but with multiple reactor sites. This would make areas of Japan uninhabitable for quite some time...weeks, months, longer.
Best case: Extended period ending in shut down.
Can they restore the faith of the Japanese people in the nuclear power?
IAEA Update on Japan Earthquake
Japanese Earthquake Update (15 March 11:25 UTC)
Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Update
Radiation Dose Rates Observed at the Site
The Japanese authorities have informed the IAEA that the following radiation dose rates have been observed on site at the main gate of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
At 00:00 UTC on 15 March a dose rate of 11.9 millisieverts (mSv) per hour was observed. Six hours later, at 06:00 UTC on 15 March a dose rate of 0.6 millisieverts (mSv) per hour was observed.
These observations indicate that the level of radioactivity has been decreasing at the site.
As reported earlier, a 400 millisieverts (mSv) per hour radiation dose observed at Fukushima Daiichi occurred between units 3 and 4. This is a high dose-level value, but it is a local value at a single location and at a certain point in time. The IAEA continues to confirm the evolution and value of this dose rate. It should be noted that because of this detected value, non-indispensible staff was evacuated from the plant, in line with the Emergency Response Plan, and that the population around the plant is already evacuated.
About 150 persons from populations around the Daiichi site have received monitoring for radiation levels. The results of measurements on some of these people have been reported and measures to decontaminate 23 of them have been taken. The IAEA will continue to monitor these developments.
Evacuation of the population from the 20 kilometre zone is continuing.
The Japanese have asked that residents out to a 30 km radius to take shelter indoors. Japanese authorities have distributed iodine tablets to the evacuation centres but no decision has yet been taken on their administration.
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