Both Barry Brooks and Scientific American report that even though Fukushima was just rated at INES Level 7 – no one has died. Yet.
Authorities washed most of the material out to sea where it can do far less damage. The long lived stuff is not in airborne particulates which lodge in the lungs and kill you — as was the case in the Chernobyl fire.
However, Fukushima is not over yet. According to the Scientific American article the Japanese authorities are warning that maybe it will leak the same amount of radiation. That would be a real tragedy for this area of Japan.
We should not ban all nuclear reactors just because a few old Gen2 reactors leaked when HIT BY A LEVEL 9 EARTHQUAKE AND 10 METER TSUNAMI! Modern reactors are different. Today’s Gen3 reactors use either Moderator Leak or Neutron Leak passive safety cooling systems that work whether the power is on or not. There’s no way to beat these systems by knocking out the diesel generators!
And here’s the main point: if we ban nuclear power, we are locking in climate change. That’s all there is to it until the high cost of energy storage comes down a few orders of magnitude to allow a renewable grid. I long for that day, but until then: nukes are it.
Eclipse Now 