I think it's an amazing testament to the safety of modern nuclear plants (and the plant in question was commissioned something like 40 years ago) that in spite

I think it's an amazing testament to the safety of modern nuclear plants (and the plant in question was commissioned something like 40 years ago) that in spite of being hit by both the largest earthquake in Japanese history AND a tsunami, the worst-case scenario is probably not going to be all that bad. Sure, it will be very expensive to fix, but it looks very likely that even in the case of a complete meltdown there will not be a catastrophic release of radiation into the surrounding environment. Contrast this to Chernobyl when an OPERATING reactor suffered an explosion INSIDE the containment vessel, and you see that this does not even come close.