Reliability and Nuclear Power

A 9.0-magnitude earthquake and the tsunami it triggered hit the north-east coast of Japan on 11 March, 2011, causing widespread death and destruction, including successive hydrogen explosions in three reactors, and the exposure of one spent fuel tank at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. The released radiation caused a world-wide nuclear phobia. Some overseas rescue teams abandoned Japan for fear of radiation exposure, and people in neighboring countries scrambled to buy iodine and iodized salt for fear of nuclear particles floating across from Japan on the wind.