1986 or 2011: When Chernobyl meets Japan

According to many news sources, (I am using the WSJ) the damage from the nuclear plants in Japan are reaching the levels of the horrors of Chernobyl. Something that everyone thought the modern world had moved far beyond. The earlier disaster happened in the Soviet Union, when the world was entrenched in the drama of the Cold War. A concept that we, the modern thinker, wants to think is now passe. Even though relations with Iran are shaky at best, they have yet to reach the level of Soviet relations. The Soviet union represents a low point in American diplomacy, when there was no end in sight and fear more than anything else perpetuated the relationship.
Today, however, Japan is in trouble. Their nuclear reactors are malfunctioning due to the earth quake and subsequent tsunami, they are damaged and are releasing large amounts of radio active material into the air.
As the WSJ says:
"It is quite different from Chernobyl," said Mr. Nishiyama. "First, the amount of released radiation is about a tenth of Chernobyl," he said, adding that while there were 29 deaths resulting from short-term exposure to high doses of radiation at Chernobyl, there were no such deaths at Fukushima. "At Chernobyl, the nuclear reactor itself exploded," he said, adding that at the Fukushima plant, the pressure vessel and the containment vessel were largely intact.

At the end of the day, the word is "scary." There is nothing that anyone can do to control what is going on and in a world where everyone feels like they control everything based on who wins a debate, who has the most money, who gets the most votes; this is foreign territory. 

see the article:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703841904576256742249147126.html?mod=WSJ_hp_mostpop_read