Are you worried about nuclear safety?

No. And my friends in Japan aren't overly concerned either. When they worry, I'll worry.

The answer is unclear at the present time.

I was until I read Bonestructur's answer.  Now...not so much.  Thanks Bonestructure!

Yes.  Very much so.  We live in a frightening world.

I wouldn't worry about it. 

The news said that there was very small vent (not to be confused with a leak) of mildly radioactive gas from one of the containment vessels, that all of their nuclear generating stations shut down automatically when the first tremor hit, and that they operate on diesel backup generators until they go through their re-start procedures. 

If even these overpaid and untrustworthy fear mongers in our press can't confabulate anything worse than that, after long conference with other ignorant leftist panic mongers, then there is clearly NO cause for alarm.

The Japanese are not stupid.  They have the best engineers in the world, and they know what they are up against.  They thought it through in the planning stages and took precautions that Americans would simply never need to consider.

It would appear that their sturdy construction paid off as advertised.

They know better than you and I how to plan for earthquakes, floods, tidal waves, and other nastiness.  I realize that leftists in our press are the most perverse sort of worry warts in the business but their alarmist hysteria is of no value.

In short, have some faith.  It certainly calms us and gives us the power to continue in a proper course during emergencies.  That is why faith separates us from fearful animals.

Faith is our greatest strength and readiest proven resource.  Use it!

I got back from Yokuska a few hours ago.  People, there is nothing to worry about.  Of the five plants we toured there, only one had a leak and that leak was very small.

In an overflight of their facilities, we found only one leak: 125 rads total radiation output, and that was in 2/He\5,6.  It is an inert gas, has a halflife of about 6.333...X10^-3 seconds, and is definitely not a hazard. 

That dosage of radiation might cause hair loss on one person but would not do much worse.  Even that tiny leak was contained within a barium-iron-lead shielded pressure vessel.  These folks know what they are doing, let me assure you.

I will say that things could have gone very nasty if the Soviets had designed and built their facilities.  Chernobyl was not a joke: it spread 94/Pu\239 halfway around the world within 24 hours.  Within 96 hours, the antiquated carbon-core reactor had spread 62 times the radioactive particulates that we had ever shot in atmospheric nuclear weapons testing.

The Soviets were decidedly careless with their program.  Not so the Japanese.

I just wanted to check in with you folks.  What does it take to prove that there is nothing to worry about?

I had been, as the fact is My oldest Brother and family had lived a stones throw from "3 Mile Island" , I panicked, called them and told them to get up here Now.. and my Big Brother, laughed, told me that they we all safe, and to calm down...He was one of the Rocks in my life so ...

Sweet G