Yes, this certainly is an on-going case study of disaster.

It's interesting to reading the initial reactions to this disaster in this thread: some thought posters were over-reacting. Some changed their minds as the dimensions of this disaster became more apparent. Some will never change their minds.

I know my concept of what a nuclear power disaster was radically upgraded. I hadn't thought about tsunamis as a threat, and I hadn't thought about how a disaster could be compounded with more than one reactor on site. The assumptions of the Japanese planners, and their American advisors, proved totally inadequate for dealing with the reality of this disaster.

Charlie Ipcar