March 13, 2011

Japan's Nuclear Crisis: Lessons for the U.S.

Introduction

Kim Kyung-hoon/Reuters On Mar. 12, an explosion triggered by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan blew the roof off the Fukushima Daiichi Unit 1 nuclear reactor. View more photographs.

Japan's nuclear crisis continued on Sunday as officials faced the possibility of multiple meltdowns of nuclear reactors. More than 170,000 people were evacuated in the northeastern coastal area ravaged by the 8.9 magnitude earthquake and tsunami on Friday, and fears of radiation contamination spread.

While the cataclysm in Japan was a so-called once-in-a-century event, it also revived fears about the safety of nuclear power, which had regained support as an alternative to global dependence on fossil fuels. What are the lessons so far from the Japan disaster for the nuclear plants in the United States? Which plants or type of plants should we be most concerned about? Can reactors be made strong enough to survive a severe earthquake?

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