I heard some news recently over the radio. It was nothing unusual, just tepco admitting they had a full melt down at some stage. That story you have is quite interesting Jerry.

I know the Japanese are proud and like to be seen in the best light all but when they bullshit about what has really happened and then we find out after it leaves a bad stigma. We all had an idea this was true anyway but if they were up front about it from the start then there is no ill feeling as it was completely out of their control.

Then there is stories like the one Jerry has just posted and it makes one think the people (not the co's and gov't) really are respectable... in a big way.

Lets be real.
 

Come on guys lets be real here. I doubt that any developed nation reveals the whole truth in any man made disaster because it shines a bad light on its abilitiy to control situations like this one. If this happened in the USA there would have been details held in secrecy until some entity of the press gets a hold of the real story and then it would be plastered all over the news. The Japanese Gov and Tepco are doing exactly what any other nation/company would to in order to protect its persona/reputation.

Yes, that's true Jerry but it was obvious to the world they were in dissarray when they needed to fix it quick i.e.- no infrastructure and not many workers from the original plant, it had all been washed away.

I guess it wouldn't stop any other country from doing the same, so you are right.

Shameful
 

I still think it is shameful in this day in age that we as a society do not have some sort of international nuclear disaster team that can respond to help when things like this happen. Its painfully obvious to me that an engineering disaster of this scope & nature is no easy task, and considering the effects of such a failure it should not be left up to some private company to deal with fallout that has the potential to harm not only local human life, but the worlds eco system.

Private companies no matter what country are only worried about one thing, and that is making money. They will always take shortcuts to save a few bucks, and sacrifice customer satisfaction and human life to please its stock holders. How can any nation allow a nuclear disaster be handled in house by private enterprize?

I just heard a report on ABC news that Germany has already shut down eight of its reactor plants on its way to a complete nuke shutdown, and Switzerland just anounced that it will phase out all of its nuke plants by 2034, and become nuke free. This incedent has really shown the world just how bad things can get if things go wrong. The risk of our extinction is not worth the risk of using nuclear power, and some have realized this and begun to make changes in a more positive direction. I am sure that using nuclear energey will not be desolved any time soon, but I believe that it is time to realize that it is time to start shifting to another source of power worldwide.

That's a good idea and the existing nuclear plants can pay a levy to fund such a group.