[Nyororin]

Everyone needs to take note - this is a revised rating. Also, 7 does not mean Chernobyl levels - 7 is simply the highest number on the scale. Chernobyl literally went off the scales. It has been said countless times that if the scale went to 10, Chernobyl would still have been at least a 12.

Anyway though - they have revised the rating for the original problems. They were unable to fully comprehend the level of the original events (broken equipment, lack of supplies to check, inability to approach, etc), but now have those capabilities and are able to give a more accurate rating to what happened.

I am seriously confused by why it is leaping from 5 to 7. I guess that is the official thing - they`ve been on the news a number of times saying it was worse than a 5, but less than a Chernobyl, and saying that it was a 6... But I guess they never officially upgraded the number rating until now.

No, wait, I figured it out - they`ve combined the individual reactor events into a single event, knocking the number up. The individual reactors are still considered to be 5s - but more than one has pushed it up to 7.

It is a serious thing, but I still do not think that it is anywhere close to the level of Chernobyl. I also think that the media will not agree, as all they`re going to look at is the number scale.
A 7 is a "Major release of radio­active ­material with widespread health and environmental effects r­equiring implementation of planned and extended ­countermeasures"
There is a whole lot of leeway in there. Chernobyl went to the extreme. Fukushima has not.