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[aanish]

Hammered by a tremendously powerful earthquake and then bludgeoned by a gigantic tsunami, Japan really had enough trouble on its hands. But as fate would have it, the only nation ever to witness the full horrors of nuclear war is, in addition to its other woes, face to face with a nuclear power nightmare. Problems with cooling three reactors at Fukushima Daiichi have already led to the venting of radioactive steam and two explosions. There are similar concerns about another reactor at the nearby Fukushima Daini plant. A desperate struggle is on to prevent the worst from happening — a complete meltdown of the nuclear core that could lead to large releases of radioactivity into the environment. With few natural resources of its own, Japan opted for nuclear power to supply a third of its energy needs. It has today more than 50 commercially operating nuclear reactors. These reactors were built taking into account the fact that they would be operating in a seismically dangerous environment. Unfortunately, Friday’s earthquake, which was the worst recorded in the country, and the huge tsunami it unleashed set off a cascade of problems at the two nuclear power plants.