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INES

The International Nuclear And Radiological Event Scale, from 1-7, has been applied to the disaster in Japan.  It is now set at 5.  This means there will be, or have been, already, "several deaths" from nuclear exposure, and need for some limited countermeasures.  It is no longer a merely local event contained by the plant.  This is cause for grave concern.  We all hope not to see an event 6 or 7.
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