The real lesson here is that you've got to evaluate options on the basis of what happens when the system fails. Because the system WILL fail. This is one of t

The real lesson here is that you've got to evaluate options on the basis of what happens when the system fails. Because the system WILL fail. This is one of the hardest lessons for engineers to learn. That you simply cannot prevent failure. You can make it less common. You can take all reasonable steps to prepare against it. But failure will happen. So what are the consequences when it does? The answer in the case of nuclear power is that the cost comes at a level and in a form that many societies are not willing to pay. You can argue the irrationality of that, but you'll lose the argument. Societies don't make decisions on a rational basis. And they're never going to. This incident is in fact a failure of engineering. There was radioactive material released into the atmosphere in an uncontrolled manner. It doesn't matter if it gets worse or better, that's the thing that absolutely was not supposed to happen. It did. The system failed.