So what we've got is some type of nuclear release incident at one of these nuclear power plants. Hopefully this type of radiation release is confined to just one plant, but since several nuclear reactors are involved ... we just don't know.

I'm having some trouble understanding exactly what the Government there is saying. Their press release says that only the outside structural building has exploded. But surely the force of the explosion has been generated by a high-pressure build-up of vapor or gas from within the coolant system. It seems very hard to believe that some significant radiation has not come out of the system.

At this point the Japanese Government can no longer keep playing their cards close to their vest. They are going to need to provide accurate info to the world on what is going on. They were very tight-lipped before the reactor explosion, and they kept giving assurances that it could not happen. But obviously the earthquake damage to these power plants has been extensive.

Looking at TV, it appears that a lot of the exploded containment structure went into a cloud of debris that landed within a few hundred yards of the plant. But very likely they have now got radioactive material in the ocean as well as on land. And they are probably venting some residual gases into the air as well.

They need to get some airplanes into the sky, and some boats onto the ocean, to check radioactivity levels. My guess is that the international community will put tremendous pressure on Japan to get this information collected and released as soon as possible.

I don't think that Japan will become a "nuclear wasteland". Remember that this small country actually recovered from two full-scale nuclear explosions in 1945. The Japanese have the will and the resources to clean up their country. But it will be expensive, and it will take time. This earthquake has been one of their worst nightmares.

I am watching these events from So. California, and imagining what would happen if we had a similar series of diasasters. We have a nuclear plant located on the ocean at San Onofre. It's a pretty good bet that we would have taken worse damage than Japan, and I doubt that we could have responded as well as they can. If there is any positive outcome from this Japanese diasaster, it's probably that the people in California are really going to have to get their act together and try hard to get ready.

other Pete