Comparing Fukushima 2011 Radiation with Chernobyl 1986 and Three Mile Island 1979

The Japan’s Fukushima nuclear reactor blast / leakage has been compared by nuclear experts with other major nuclear disasters in the history of nuclear radiation. According to experts in the field, Fukushima leakage can be seen from so many similarities and angles. The other two famous nuclear disasters in the history, the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant (Goldsboro, Pennsylvania, USA) and the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine (Former Soviet Union) accidents. All the three above accidents were caused by the leakage of radiation from the nuclear reactors.

But there is a variotion in the intensity of radiation on the three occassions. According to the International Nuclear Events Scale (INES), the Chernobyl was the high in intensity of radiation comparing with Three Mile Island and Fukushima accidents. The recorded intensity of radiation from Chernobyl was a7 where as it was a5 in the case of leakage at Three Mile Island. Coming to the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant of Japan, it is estimated that the intensity of leakage from Fukushima’s reactor is lower than the previous two and it is around a3 or a4. The scale of the radiation ranges from a1 to a7.

Based on these estimates, one can conclude that the present Fukushima blast in Japan and its radiation impact will be much lesser than the Chernobyl and Three Mile Island cases. In the accident of Chernobyl’s reactor radiation, the core melted down in the reactor and it caused massive radio active release. It is also assumed that the same intensity nuclear accident may also take place in the coming few hours, if the Fukushima reactor of Japan is not cooled down.



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