There was some clarification this morning in my newspaper about "Level 7" in Japan. Evidently the Japanese nuclear regulators concluded that the Fukushima-1 nuclear complex had already exceeded the radiation level for the criteria of 7 by a factor of ten, but it had only released about 10 % (so far) of what was released in the Chernobyl level 7 disaster.

There is no higher level than 7.

That's the good news.

In addition that mandatory evacuation zone around this continuing nuclear disaster has again been expanded as additional radiation "hot spots" have been identified outside the 15 km zone; the new zone evidently has a radius of 20 km.

Charley Noble