April 12 2011 Japan nuclear crisis raised to ‘Level 7′ emergency – Japan raises n... — Fukushima Daiichi power plant emergency now on par with 1986 Chernobyl warning 11 Apr 2011 Japan is to raise the nuclear alert level at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant to a maximum seven, putting the emergency on a par with the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. The government came under pressure to raise the level at the plant after Japan’s nuclear safety commission estimated the amount of radioactive material released from its stricken reactors reached 10,000 terabecquerels per hour for several hours following the earthquake and tsunami that devastated the country’s northeast coast on 11 March. That level of radiation constitutes a major accident, according to the INES scale.