The latest reports contain these words ...

"The crisis appeared to escalate late in the day when the operators of the facility said one of two blasts had blown a hole in the building housing a reactor, which meant spent nuclear fuel was exposed to the atmosphere."

If these reports are true - and we really have no idea these days - then spent nuclear fuel could be exposed to the sky. This could mean the release of some radioactive species (cesium, iodine) into the environment. While this is not a good development, I doubt that it's the catastrophe that the media are proclaiming.

The bottom line here ... is that giving the public the real facts is a lot better than being held hostage by the paranoia of the world media.

I notice, by the way, that the US Gov't has been completely tight-lipped throughout this scenario. So I'll ask again ... where is our OWN data on radiation levels? Can't we put a few ships and airplanes over the Pacific? It seems like an obvious move to calm peoples' concerns.

other Pete