BBC News reports that Japan has raised the Fukushima plant alert level from a 4 to a 5 on the International Scale of Atomic Incidents:
Japan has raised the alert level at its quake-damaged nuclear plant from four to five on a seven-point international scale of atomic incidents.
The crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi site, previously rated as a local problem, is now regarded as having “wider consequences”.
The UN says the battle to stabilise the plant is a race against time.
The crisis was prompted by last week’s huge quake and tsunami, which has left at least 17,000 people dead or missing.
Japanese nuclear officials said core damage to reactors 2 and 3 had prompted the raising of the severity grade.
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