The Guardian4.28pm: The incident at the Fukushima No 1 nuclear plant is less serious than both the Three Mile Island accident in 1979 and the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, according to Japan's nuclear safety agency.
An official at the agency said it has given the incident a rating of 4 on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES), which equates to an accident with local consequences. Three Mile Island was rated 5 while Chernobyl received the highest rating of 7, he added.