@Alan4discussion,

Most of the people who stayed did not die of radiation poisoning, but they died 10-20 years later from the long term affects of the radiation. It's a real issue for those living in Japan. Especially those in close proximity to the reactors.

I'm not ignorant. I know how much nuclear scientists and nuclear power proponents want to try and sell it as being very safe. It's not very safe when you have these kinds of incidents. I agree with you that the reactor was very poorly placed, designed etc. Until we can rule out these kinds of human errors, greed etc. it is not safe for us to use nuclear power.

A bigger problem with nuclear power is the pollution from mining. Tax payers will be paying billions to clean up the Grants Mineral Belt contamination from the 1920's to 1980's that has been abandoned. Waste disposal is another huge problem. I took a radioactive waste management class last semester and heard all the propaganda from the industry and I still think it's a big problem.

The biggest problem is that fissionable elements are a scarce resource and what do you do after you've used it all up? Isn't it time to think really long term instead of patching with band-aides?