Problem for me with nuclear power isn't the potential for explosions or such, but the fact that -- sing and dance all you want -- the radioactive waste (even after recycling through other reactors) has to be stored for millions of years before it can be considered safe.

We simply don't have the technology to do that. Full stop.

Still doesn't address the problem we are seeing in Japan. Can you guarantee that the new high-tech reactors you mention are earthquake-proof? Probably not.

Nothing is earthquake-proof, and no matter how hi-tech nuclear reactors are they still need cooling, and if the cooling process is interrupted for too long it won't matter how hi-tech it is will it?

Yep. Wonder how much of a radiation hazard a solar array or wind farm would be in this same situation...

Damn that tsunami was a bad one, that destruction looks like a nuke went off.
Who knows how high the body count will be.

A hamster on a wheel also wouldn't be much of a radiation hazard.

Like a hamster on a wheel, neither solar nor wind are serious suggestions for producing 4.7GW of power in the region where this 4.7GW power plant is located.

We don't have alternatives to Nuclear power, so we need to make the design process better. Hopefully, this nuclear disaster won't expand to the point of costing a lot of lives. It already can't avoid costing more money than should be throw away on whatever design error left the diesels subject to simultaneous failure under exactly the conditions when they are required.

The tsunami obviously has cost a lot of lives. Regardless of what we might hope for, we can't make the world disaster proof.

In Japan we can expect that most of the people killed by the tsunami will be those actually killed by the tsunami. That is in contrast to the Indian Ocean tsunami in which most of those killed were killed by conditions after the tsunami, while their governments rejected, restricted and looted foreign aid to enrich themselves and protect their positions of power.

A functioning middle class, a half decent government, sane disaster response, efficient power generation, and many other aspects of life in (unfortunately only) some countries, are all interconnected in many obvious and non obvious ways. Liberals imagine you can destroy parts of that system (restrict energy use to the level that "green" generation methods might provide and tax the middle class out of existence) while leaving other parts intact. But the real world doesn't work that way.

My city is expecting an earthquake. You know what we use to generate power here? Hydro dams.

I sure hope those hold.

I'd say this old one held up quite well to the earthquake, the diesel generators that keep the cooling system going after they SCRAM it were not quite tsunami proof though. Most of the other nuclear plants in Japan did just fine, I think one other had a little scare but was dealt with. It isn't like this is the first quake to shake a nuclear plant in the past 60 years, it is just the first to cause a problem.

Hopefully what is going on in Japan will make us look at some of our old, out dated reactors and consider updating them.

...And now another explosion at a nuclear power plant, Fukushima Plant No. 3: http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/

This nuclear situation is really disconcerting. I really hope that containment vessel doesn't get breached...

Worst case scenario:
If a full meltdown happens, how bad would that be?

Most news stations seem to have very different opinions.

This is all caused by the whales as they are fighting back.!

It would be bad, i.e. if you live in the US, buy potassium iodide now and have it ready. I will as well, even tho I'm in Europe ATM. The jet stream may disperse the radiation for quite some distance. I may also buy plane tickets to the southern hemisphere if it gets really bad, because there are plenty of other radioactive substances other than iodine that will harm you.

I vote for more nuke reactors ... clean and green, as you will soon see.

EDIT:

One more thing, seaweed contains lots of iodine. Only problem is, if this seaweed is in the sea near Japan, it may be radioactive.

A FULL meltdown would be BAD, but there are quite a few things that would stop that from happening, namely the containment vessel, immediate access to water and the entire world watching. The water itself could act as a giant heatsink. I don't think there is reason to panic yet, just prepare yourself calmly and buy a bottle of potassium iodide. Yes, there are other radioactive materials, but the thyroid is the most vulnerable thing (WRT to radioactive "fallout") in our bodies.

There is a relatively low likelihood that this will turn into Chernobyl.

I LOL'd at the green energy comment though.