Nuclear Crisis, Japan Nuclear Crisis | featured news

Fears of radiation sickness stemming from the unfolding nuclear crisis in Japan prompt a surge in US sales of potassium iodide, a preventative drug.

Japan's devastating earthquake and deepening nuclear crisis could result in losses of up to $200 billion for the world's third largest economy but the global impact remains hard to gauge five days after a massive tsunami battered the northeast coast.

What a bone-headed move. There’s nothing wrong with the 7 nuclear plants that German Chancellor Angela Merkel decreed would be shut down. Just last fall Germany decided to extend the lives of these plants, which provide roughly 10% of Germany’s electricity. With solar and wind entirely unscalable, how’s Germany going to make up the electric deficit? Either by ramping up the use of fossil-fuel burning plants (and importing more natural gas from Russia) or importing power from its neighbors–like nuke-friendly France.

Aviation authorities across the globe are closely monitoring the radiation levels at  a Japanese nuclear power plant damaged in last week's earthquake and tsunami.

The last thing Japan needed was more bad news on its threatened nuclear reactors. But Monday and early today, that's just what this nation got.