The crisis in Japan is a huge world event.  The possibility that a significant portion of such a small densely populated country would become uninhabitable would be a death kneel for the nuclear industry.  In Chernobyl it was almost ignorable by western parties under the banner of “Chernobyl wasn’t a western design.”  Fukushima was, and although there are several stories of design and cost considerations that weakened its final design, it did hold up better than Chernobyl under far worse of an event.  Of the 6 reactors, only one is in serious trouble and it did suffer a 9.0 mag quake as well as a tsunami.

Since it has gone to the #2 spot in the news cycle as of late, one would assume it’s ready to forget.  I’ve found http://mitnse.com to be a good source of educated opinion.  There are radioactive isotopes entering the environment at levels far above normal.  In the ecosystem these could accumulate into something that is dangerous.  The half lives of most of the debris are anywhere between a few days and a few years.  Assuming the remaining reactor is cooled and potentially buried in concrete, this disaster doesn’t appear that it will leave a stain behind on the earth as heavy as Chernobyl.

Keeping my fingers crossed.