![IAEA](https://i0.wp.com/graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2011/03/14/world/asia/14lede_scale/14lede_scale-blog480.jpg?w=640)
This is a logarithmic scale, with each incident number ten times worse than the one preceding it. ‘John Large, a nuclear engineer, explained the scale in layman’s terms for Britain’s Channel 4 News: “1 is someone dropping a milk bottle in the control room, and Chernobyl is 7.”’ (Filched from the New York Times )