Japan decided to use nuclear after the 70s oil scare (remember the Jom Kippur war and the oil-producing countries getting together in concerted action against the West?). Japan's only chance for survival in a competitive modern world, as a people living on a small island, was to industrialise and they were very oil-dependant, the nuclear option made them less so.
I personally believe they'll get on top of this accident and learn some valuable lessons from it; now a nuclear plant will not only have to be totally earthquake proof, but the planning will have to take into account total destruction of surrounding infrastructure for whatever reason - and will need to have at least three backup-options for all the critical areas.
Also: these reactors are approx. 40 years old - to survive as they have in such a 'black swan' event is an absolute miracle; at the very least their slow disintegration is giving authorities and workers valuable time to lessen the impact on the population.
There will be a bit of slowing down in building new reactors, I believe, old ones will be disconneced and checked, even decommissioned etc. - new ones will have to undergo more rigorous checking by planning authorities; at least, that's my hope.
Re Shimmer's uploading of news items: I am one of those people who likes to be informed and appreciate information and always check Breaking News. You don't need to read it - I feel HotCopper is a valuable resource by staying on top of news; good on you Shimmer!
