Meltdown, Emergency, Nuclear

Three words I never want to see together.

Japan Nuclear Plant in State of Emergency, as Cooling Power Runs Low

Man, this can’t be good. Considering what they’re working with, aren’t they prepared for something like this happening? The article answered my question:

Constructing a nuclear power plant so that it can ride out a major earthquake without damage is possible, but such practice is not widespread, says Michael Constantinou, a civil engineering expert at University of Buffalo, State University of New York, who has studied the issue. Just three plants in the world – two in France and one in South America – use shock absorbers to physically isolate the reactors from surrounding ground movement.

That isn’t comforting at all. Why aren’t all nuclear plants, or at the very least ones in earthquake-prone areas, constructed this way? I’m sure it has to do with cost, but you can’t take chances with this stuff.

Anyway, I’d rather not see Three Mile Island or worse, Chernobyl, the sequel. I hope the Japanese have it under control soon.