Question:
If the earthquake were to happen in the future to Japan, with the same effects (tsunami, nuclear explosion, etc.)
What would be a good plan to prevent so much damage as this time?
Answer:
There was no nuclear explosion. Vented hydrogen exploded and damaged the exterior of the building but didn't spread any nuclear fuel around because that was (and is) in the containment vessels. The exterior building walls are not part of the containment system.
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…
And here is a chart that helps make sense of the numbers:
http://www.xkcd.com/radiation/
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