Fear has been spreading around the world that the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in Japan will cause a crisis similar to that of Chernobyl. However, Imperial College’s Molecular Pathology chair, Professor Gerry Thomas, has told reporters that the worry has been blown out of proportion compared to the real risks.

Japanese authorities have been struggling to cool the reactor at the plant down with water. On Thursday, the government deployed helicopters, a water cannon and military fire trucks to dump water on it, some in shifts. At the time, it wasn’t clear if the efforts were successful, while panic has spread and foreign countries have planned charter flights to evacuate nationals.

However, Professor Thomas and other nuclear experts say the radiation leak risk is exaggerated. The London expert says the precautions taken by the Japanese government should be sufficient in protecting people. There hasn’t been a significant release of radiation, and officials have been going by the book, she continued, adding that they aren’t looking at an incident anything like Chernobyl.

She believes that media coverage of the incident and the response from foreign governments aren’t helping the panic but spreading it, which is what happened with Chernobyl’s crisis. The local Ukrainian people were told they would get cancer and die, which is still in the minds of people today. However, there was a massive release of iodine into the atmosphere that was carried on the wind at Chernobyl, which isn’t likely to happen in Japan, she added.

Despite her insight on the matter, US nuclear regulator head Gregory Jaczko disagrees, telling Congress that the public needs to be at least 50 miles from the plant – 4 times the radius cleared by Japanese officials. Plus, European Union energy chief Gunther Oettinger told European Parliament that there is talk of an apocalypse, which he believes to be a well chosen word.