After Fukushima, isn't it time we started paying attention?

I mean, really, after the earthquake and then tsunami that destroyed Japan's Fukushima nuclear plants, shouldn't we maybe pay attention to some rather big details about nuclear power plants so we avoid catastrophes over here?

Sure, it doesn't have to do with tsunamis in Kansas, thank goodness, but how about those other things that effect us?  You know, those tornadoes?

For instance:

'Tornado Alley' Nuclear Reactor Not Fully Twister-Proof

I mean really, check out this little bit from the story:

WASHINGTON — The closest nuclear power plant to tornado-ravaged Joplin, Mo., was singled out weeks before the storm for being vulnerable to twisters.

Inspections triggered by Japan’s nuclear crisis found that some emergency equipment and storage sites at the Wolf Creek nuclear plant in southeastern Kansas might not survive a tornado.

Specifically, plant operators and federal inspectors said Wolf Creek did not secure equipment and vehicles needed to fight fires, retrieve fuel for emergency generators and resupply water to keep nuclear fuel cool as it’s being moved.

Despite these findings, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission concluded that the plan met requirements put in place after the Sept. 11 attacks that are designed to keep the nuclear fuel cool and containment structures intact during an emergency.

Do we really want to be surprised and find things out and have big problems first, only to react later?

Surely not.

The NRC needs to stop being a happy partner to and lapdog of the companies that run these plants.

This would be a good time and place to start.

Additionally, this seems like a good, vital, important story regional newspapers should cover, from Wichita to Emporia to yes, Kansas City and around, to see if the NRC really does follow up on this.

We have to dream, folks.