Vulnerable nuclear plants in the U.S.

Vulnerable nuclear plants in the U.S.

With the nuclear crisis in Japan growing hourly, The Daily Beast rates the vulnerability of all 65 U.S. nuclear facilities based on safety records, potential disasters, and nearby populations. Plus, full coverage of Japan's nuclear crisis.As the crisis at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant grows daily, the safety of domestic nuclear reactors is under serious scrutiny. Nuclear Regulatory Commission chairman Gregory Jaczko reassured Congress earlier this week that American nuclear reactors can survive major natural disasters, but some critics argue that U.S. reactors may be even more vulnerable than the ones in Japan. Nuclear reactors are engineered to withstand certain levels of disaster, based on projections beyond what the area has experienced. But should an unprecedented disaster take place, as with Japan, it's impossible to definitively establish whether the operating reactors in the U.S. would remain safe.

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