I may have missed some comments on this issue and apologize for any redundancy. It seems clear that opposition to nuclear power in Japan is not from a latent excessive fear of radiation. Opinion polls show opposition growing in the months after the fiasco and support beforehand. People became increasingly aware of the relentless and compulsive prevarication and obfuscation by the Japan's nuclear power industry and its bureaucratic and political supporters. The fiasco itself could have been much worse and could get worse still. I don't think anyone has mentioned that Fukushima Daini narrowly avoided a meltdown, according to its manager.
(http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T120209007089.htm
) Tokai also experienced external power loss and was saved because one of the three backup generators for cooling and two of three seawater pumps continued to function. A recent storm was enough to disrupt a fuel pond cooling system at Onagawa. They apparently have no automatic backup system even now. Fukushima Daiichi continues to experience breakdowns and leaks in its cooling and nitrogen injection systems. Much less water than expected was found recently in the #2 reactor at Daiichi, which means it is going someplace other than where it should. The computer simulation stress tests are like putting more icing on a rotten cake. "The whole process being undertaken is exactly the same as that used previous to the Fukushima Dai-Ichi accident, even though the accident showed all these guidelines and categories to be insufficient,"
Hiromitsu Ino, Professor Emeritus at the University of Tokyo, said"
(http://washpost.bloomberg.com/Story?docId=1376-LYG9UU6
K50XS01-1E5G2M8SGT6I5CH8EBOB2BTGQH) Little has been done except for computer simulations. Portable generators have been placed near reactors. On TV, I saw generators on four trucks parked under a steep hill behind a reactor. A landslide that wiped out one generator would likely wipe out all four. And it was unclear how fuel would reach the generators if the road to the isolated facility were blocked by a natural phenomenon or fleeing residents. The government is now trying bully its way back to the only condition its politicians are capable of imagining, business as usual. Japan has not experienced a significant reduction in power generation as far as I've read. The government seems more worried about the political implications from people waking up with no nuclear generators running and finding that their lights do go on. It's not so much afraid that there will be shortages as that there won't be and citizens will deem nuclear power to have been an unaffordable luxury. The government excitedly displayed its civil defense alert system and publicized military preparations leading up to Friday's North Korean launch, repeatedly warning a decidedly calm populace not to panic. Its message seemed to be "This time we'll protect you." Its failure to issue an alert or provide information until long after the liftoff and unplanned splashdown was a worldwide TV news item hardly inspires confidence that the government and bureaucracy are capable of protecting citizens in an emergency. Its management of nuclear power to date and response after the Fukushima fiasco invites concerns that protecting citizens is not its first priority.
Greg Johnson