The nuclear accident at Fukushima Daiichi can result in high prices of the petroleum products in the international market in near future.
An energy expert, requesting anonymity told Business Recorder here on Tuesday that the worst earthquake of the century Japan experienced on March 11, has caused the country to pay heavy cost by failure of the cooling system of Fukushima nuclear reactor, while Tsunami the very next day followed by another earth quake worsened the overall situation.
Another reactor also caught fire and radiation level is increasing by each passing day. "This nuclear accident has raised many fears regarding the effect of radioactivity on the neighbouring countries. Japan has no bordering country since it comprises on islands. There are five countries that are close to Japan. These are; Russia, South Korea, North Korea, China, and Taiwan", the expert said.
There have been rumours that Pakistan may get some traces of radioactivity, which is absolutely wrong, as we are far away from Japan and there is no fear of radioactivity at all even in the countries close to Japan, the expert said. He added that there is no danger of acidic rain at all in Pakistan.
The Fukushima Daiichi crisis has already been declared far worse than the Three Mile Island accident in 1979, where there was a partial meltdown in the core and relatively modest amount of radioactivity was released. The nuclear accident at Fukushima Daiichi has now being rated at level 7 "Major Accident" on International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES). Level 7 is the most serious level on INES.
Radioactive iodine is a health concern because it is absorbed readily by the thyroid gland, posing risk of cancer, particularly among children but according to the experts, even if there is a large-scale leak in Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, it highly unlikely to affect people in the US.