+1 here. People watch too many Hollywood disaster movies and add the panic inducing news to the mix, then confuse reality with fiction and people start talking about "evacuating Japan". Although I do agree that TEPCO and the Japanese nuclear safety agency should be seriously grilled over this, there were serious lapses in oversight and safety procedures.
731 Earthquakes since March 11, 2011 to March 23, 2011 I am sorry for bringing this to you but if it is true then you must know. Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1yIfOYQWxA&feature=player_embedded#at=13
and where the F##k do these guys come out from, registered 2 days after the earthquake, "My father was a nuclear technician" posts like mad for 3 days, then poof!
Here is a video that shows you the size (height) of the wave that came in. Did this inundate the reactor complex to the same extent? Yikes. No wonder we're talking about possible containment damage. That was an immense mass of water. Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOfy1CoxrMo
A cubic foot of water weighs 62 pounds... 5' x 5' x5' cube of water is nearly 10,000 pounds, it bulldozes things pretty well...
TEPCO reported that the tsunami at Fukushima Daiichi was 14m in height. From reports I have read, the design requirements for the plant were to withstand a tsunami of 5.7m. Presumably this was approved by the regulator. There will be lots of questions to be answered and one of them must be - why was the maximum likely tsunami so badly underestimated?
Terrifying Tsunami videos: Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3_JZ7cnMR4&feature=related Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIYG5GctqCQ Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evGy6JFQLBk&NR=1 CCTV video of tsunami wave hitting Sendai airport http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DSSssHxm4Y&feature=related
I suspect that magnitude 9 for multiple minutes translates into a huge motion in the sea floor which is what generates the wave pulse. I'm guessing that no-one expected it. Kind of like whatever brings this market rise to a halt - obvious only in hindsight.
Cost per kilowatt hour of electricity. Source MIT: Nuclear: $0.08 Coal: $0.06 Gas: $0.07 Projected $/megawatt hour of electricity in 2016 Conventional natural Gas: $75 Conventional Coal: $105 Wind: $102 Nuclear $125 Clean coal: $145 Solar PV: $210 Myth 1: Nuclear power is a cheap alternative to fossil fuels. Fact 1: Nuclear energy is a very costly business. Myth 2: The main issue surrounding Nuclear power is safety. Fact 2: The cost is the main issue. Bloomberg Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fD40J45zjIM