Japan nuke disaster should give us pause

The Fukushima nuclear power plants fail-safe backup system failed ["Nuclear power on the ropes," Editorial, March 20]. We may no longer be in a Cold War, but with nuclear power plants, we are in a cold sweat.

There is now the possibility of a catastrophic nuclear plant meltdown. A radioactive plume engulfing a major city would kill and harm millions, disrupt their financial system and leave the Japanese coast uninhabitable for centuries.

It is time we started replacing the nuclear plants operating across this country with something less lethal. In an unpredictable world where natural disasters and terrorists can strike, there they sit, unprotected; they are nothing but a liability.

Steven E. Danish

Oceanside