Question:
Answer:
Japan is safe now. There is a 20 km (12 mile) radius around the plant that is off limits as a precaution, but the rest of Japan is fine (other than the areas damaged caused by the tsunami).
If anything, the situation shows how safe nuclear power is. Consider that forty year old plants were hit with an earthquake five times the strength they were designed for and yet they still shut down safely. The generators came on like they were supposed to when grid power was cut. Then the tsunami hit and the generators were wiped out. However, the battery backup still worked for the designed eight hours. The problem happened when no new generators could be put in. Even so the problems have been minimal--media scare mongering for ratings not withstanding.
Here is an informative article describing the situation:
http://bravenewclimate.com/2011/03/13/fu…
And here is where you find current, factual status information:
http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/tsun…
Historical status:
http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/2011…
And a slide presentation that describes the effects:
http://www.slideshare.net/iaea/radiologi…
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