No nuclear plant of this design has ever reached that worst-case scenario, but the problems at Fukushima Daiichi bring the industry closer to that pass than most engineers thought likely.

It's been designed to contain almost anything," said James F. Stubbins, head of the nuclear engineering department at the University of Illinois. He said so far the containment structure appears to be working.

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Paul T Maurer - Technology and Business

No nuclear plant of this design has ever reached that worst-case scenario, but the problems at Fukushima Daiichi bring the industry closer to that pass than most engineers thought likely.