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Because the other real story, which is a much happier - yes happier - one, is how the Japanese nuclear plants have performed magnificently in the past few days despite being hit by a disaster vastly greater than they were designed to withstand.

What has happened in Japan should in fact be seen as a massive endorsement of nuclear power. But of course, people being what they are, it will not be.

Think about it: despite being faced with a Magnitude 9 Great Earthquake which knocked the whole island of Honshu several feet to the west, a 35ft tsunami and the complete breakdown of the infrastructure, a handful of rather ancient atomic reactors have remained largely intact and have released only tiny amounts of radiation.
There have been some dramatic explosions at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, but casualties have been light; maybe a dozen blast-injuries and a handful of cases of suspected radiation sickness. And remember: thousands were killed by the tsunami.

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Originally posted by 1kiki:
If they chemically burn and spew radioactive material all over will you feel the same? If they go critical in the nuclear sense and blow up over 100 TONS of fissible material will you feel the same? If plutonium escapes into the environment will you feel the same?

Chernobyl, Three Mile Island, and Fukushima indicate to me we simply do not build reactors to withstand all contingencies that may happen in their lifespan. And if we cannot manage to build for a 40 year lifespan, can we build to handle the waste for the next 50,000 years?

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