Health Effect of Radiation Exposure Poisoning (Sickness): Questions and Answers

(Adds comparison with Chernobyl, mechanisms of radiation spread, cesium risk.)

March 15 (Bloomberg) -- The danger of radiation leaks from Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant is rising after explosions at the site caused by Japan’s earthquake and tsunami, Prime Minister Naoto Kan said today.

As of 10:22 a.m. local time, radiation as high as 400 millisieverts was detected at the plant’s No. 3 reactor, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said at a briefing. That’s 20 times the annual limit for nuclear industry employees and uranium miners, according to the World Nuclear Association, a London-based advocate for the nuclear energy industry. A radiation dose of 100 millisieverts a year is the lowest level at which any increase in cancer is evident, the London-based WNA said on its website.

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Radiation levels spike at Japanese nuclear plant

Japanese authorities trying to stave off meltdowns at an earthquake-damaged nuclear power plant reported more grim news Tuesday as radiation levels soared following another explosion at an overheating reactor.

The risk of further releases of radioactive material from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant remains "very high," Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said Tuesday. In addition to an explosion at the No. 2 reactor, the building housing the No. 4 unit -- which had been shut down before Friday's earthquake -- was burning Tuesday morning, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano announced.

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