Japan

The images and news reports on the aftermath of the Japan's earthquake is so upsetting I just cannot begin to imagine what the Japanese people must be going through at this time.

Not only the thousands missing because of the tsunami but also now the threat of nuclear meltdown. Officials were so quick to reassure the population but within 1 hour the safety radius had been moved from 6km to 20km. They even reassure us that even if the worst took place (and by all accounts it is looking more and more likely to happen) and there was a meltdown, then it would not be in the same league as Chernobyl.  

HA! Of course they would say that, Fukushima Nuclear Power Station is situated just 160km from one of the most populous cities in the world (Is it something like 13 million people?). And don't forget that in 2002, the president of Japan's top power utility was forced to resign over suspected falsification of nuclear-plant safety records.

This is a story that is important for all of us whichever country we live in, especially as so many European governments seem to see nuclear power as a way of meeting peak oil crisis. I pray there is no further catastrophe in Japan. And yes, I am certainly not a believer in nuclear power.