A heated controversy among international experts erupted over Fukushima’s high ranking status and comparison to the 1986 explosion in Chernobyl.
Until the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that caused the Fukushima nuclear power plant to have a partial meltdown the Chernobyl nuclear plant explosion was the only event ever rated a seven.
[caption id=”attachment_4459" align=”alignleft” width=”300"]
Disaster areas of Fukushima, left, and Chernobyl, right. Photo credits to Disaster Environment Agency/ Reuters.[/caption]
What sparked the debate over Fukushima’s ranking is the difference in levels of radiation released and the severity of the causalities.
The Chernobyl explosion destroyed the nuclear reactor releasing a cloud of radiation, which contaminated large areas of Europe, whereas the Fukushima reactor had a smaller explosion triggering a fail in the cooling system and a partial meltdown.
Even more staggering are the disparities in the number of illnesses and deaths for both events. Chernobyl immediately infected 50 rescue workers with radiation poisoning and 4,000 children contracted thyroid cancer from the radiation, nearly 10 times the amount of radiation that Fukushima had.
Russian scientist Alexey V. Yablokov suggested to “enlarge the exclusion zone [from 20 kilometers] to at least a 50 kilometers radius of the plant,” for scientists working on the Fukushima cleanup.
Yablokov’s suggestions include the development of safe agriculture for contaminated areas and “to create a special powerful [ministry or committee] to handle the problems of contaminated territories.”
Suggestions made by Yablokov are based on his research and lessons learned from the Chernobyl reactor explosion. While many argue Fukushima is nowhere near the level of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster both have caused extensive damages.
“I think raising it to the level of Chernobyl is excessive,” said associate professor at San Diego State University Murray Jennex. “It’s nowhere near that level. Chernobyl was terrible — it blew and they had no containment and they were stuck. Their [Fukushima] containment has been holding, the only thing that hasn’t is the fuel pool that caught fire.”
While opinions on the Fukushima comparison vary, Zachary Cawthorne, sophomore biology major, agrees with Jennex.
“I think the comparison to Chernobyl is a little far-fetched, just because the effects have been limited to Japan and not other countries,” said Cawthorne
As the debate amongst experts continues Japanese officials cited that it’s certainly better to overestimate the severity of the Fukushima radiation leak rather than underestimate what could be catastrophic consequences.
