Rich52 (and Shimmer)Japan decided to use nuclear after the 70s...

Rich52 (and Shimmer)

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!

Taurisk