Japan raises nuclear alert level

TOKYO (AP) — Japan's nuclear safety agency has raised the rating of the country's nuclear accident from 4 to 5 on a 7-level international scale.

An official of the agency said Friday the agency raised the rating of the Fukushima nuclear crisis on the International Nuclear Event Scale. The scale defines a level 4 incident as having local consequences and a level 5 incident as having wider consequences.

The official declined to give other details.

The upgrade of the nuclear alert level happened few hours after Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario reached Japan today.

Del Rosario arrived at Narita International Airport around 12:50 p.m.

He led a compact team of DFA officials who flew with him to look after the welfare of Filipinos in the area.

Del Rosario met with officers and staff of the Philippine Embassy to assess the situation on the ground and revalidate the contingency plan about the aftermath of the devastation.

Officials of the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) however said there is no need to conduct nationwide tests for possible radioactive contamination in the country.

“There are no indications that radioactive particles from Japan have arrived here,” said PNRI director Alumanda dela Rosa.

Based on the latest plume trajectory, she said there will be no radioactive plumes going to the Philippines.

“We are confident that our own baseline (radiation level) would not change since there is no external source of radiation that we are getting at this point,” she added.

She also maintained that there is no immediate threat of nuclear fallout in the Philippines. (With reports from Jun Pasaylo/Helen Flores)