Nuclear countries glean lessons from Japan's disaster

2007 Japan quake, saying it was a “wake-up call that reverberated around the globe.”

“There has been a misconception since the early days of nuclear power that human error or mechanical failure, in other words risk factors within the plant itself, are the most significant variables regarding possible radiological release to the environment,” the story read. “In fact, the greatest threat to a plant’s operation may lie outside its walls.

“Nuclear power plants all over the world are exposed to natural hazards, such as hurricanes, floods, fires, tsunamis, volcanoes, and earthquakes. With safety always a key concern, engineers, safety specialists and architects also have to take extreme natural forces into consideration.”

Avinash Nafday, a California-based researcher who consulted for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and has written on the Black Swan effect for nuclear plants, agrees. “In doing nuclear plant designs, you have to look at the consequences of events, no matter how low the probability,” Nafday said.

Ed Lyman, a physicist and nuclear plant design expert with the Union of Concerned Scientists, said watching plant workers put their lives at risk in a bid to prevent meltdown is a good reminder that even the most thorough plans will never be enough.

“I think we need to reevaluate the realism of those plans in light of what we’re seeing here, because they involve the reliance on heroic actions on the part of workers and possibly life-or-death decisions to protect (against) larger scale releases,” he said.

Tuesday brought worse news: blasts in two of the reactors and a fire in a third at Fukushima as water levels in a pool used to store spent fuel dropped sharply. Radiation levels in the plant soared so high at one point that workers were pulled out of the control room.

Little is known about the skeletal crew that has battled to bring the plant under control. Even Japanese media have not identified any of the 200 or so workers involved.

“What is clear is that those working there are receiving radiation and should be treated as heroes,” Javier Dies, head of nuclear engineering at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia in Barcelona told Reuters.

The sense of dread grew almost by the hour. In Tokyo on Tuesday, radiation levels shot to ten times normal levels, a worrying elevation if not yet a level that would cause acute radiation problems.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan appeared in a televised news briefing to urge people living up to