Japan nuclear crisis worse than Three Mile Island, possibly headed towards Chernobyl

America on radiation alert: Japan faces world's worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl as experts warn fallout may reach U.S.

By DAVID DERBYSHIRE, RICHARD SHEARS and DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 10:20 AM on 15th March 2011

• California 'monitoring situation closely' amid dramatic escalation of disaster
• Japan's nuclear crisis now appears worse than the Three Mile Island nuclear accident in 1979 - but not yet as bad as Chernobyl in 1986
• Japan PM tells people within 19 miles of plant to stay indoors as radiation reaches levels that could impact human heath
• Radioactive wind could reach Tokyo within hours - and radiation levels are already rising in city
• Nuclear Regulatory Commission admits it is 'quite possible' radiation could reach the U.S.
• 'Worst-case scenario' could see 30,000ft winds sending nuclear cloud across Pacific - possibly hitting by Tuesday night

Fears that America could be hit by the nuclear fallout from the Japan earthquake have dramatically increased as workers prepared to abandon a reactor crippled by the earthquake and tsunami last night in the face of what is set to become the world's second worst nuclear disaster - topped only by Chernobyl.

Damage at the number two reactor at the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power complex is worse than thought, the Japanese government admitted tonight, sparking fears for human health both in Japan and the U.S.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has admitted it is 'quite possible' the fallout could reach America.

(More here.)