In actual fact the Fukushima plant had had some upgrades over the years although not as comprehensive as could have been undertaken. It is totally nieve to suggest that a 40 year old plant has had zero upgrades. It just appears that upgrades were aimed at making more $ than making the plant safer. Nuclear power plants are very expensive to build ... but they are even more expensive to decommission. Look at the amount of spent fuel stored at Fukushima, it is costly to dispose of the spent fuel .... Also read recently that there hasn't been any new nuclear power plants commissioned in the USA since 1979 (Three Mile Island) Plans should then have been afoot to replace all nuclear plants in the USA for many years. None of this seems to have come to fruition. So much for new safer technology! As for the nuclear industry, it costs $$$$ to be safer, so why spend the $ if not forced to?
No new nuke plants for over 30 years. http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf41.html
Rated Earthquake Risk to US Nuke Power Plants http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42103936/ns/world_news-asia-pacific/
But don't you think that even more of a risk than earthquake/tsunami is the existence of people that wish to do harm at any expense. Like in Japan that little known group that gassed a shitload of people with Sarin gas a few years back, Like the people that piloted aircraft into the world trade centre towers, possibly even the military action of a foriegn government. If the USA were to go to war with a capable adversary, the easiest way to cripple the USA's war effort would be direct attack on a few nuclear installations in or near populated areas.
Japan's Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant (the world's largest!) is built on the coast on the Sea Of Japan right across from their unstable, unfriendly, missile testing neighbour North Korea who regularly test fire missles into (and sometimes over) the Sea Of Japan. It appears that this is not seen as a credible problem.
When all of these plants were built rules for quantative risk mitigation were in their infancy.
So every nuclear power company should maybe consider the need for anti missile batteries, immense fortifications and heavily armed government troops at thier power plants.
