The Japanese people have demonstrated an extraordinary capacity to respond to both natural and human-made disasters with remarkable resilience. Our sympathies and thoughts are with them as they face the aftermath of this disaster.

It is far too early to know the full costs of the current nuclear crisis for Japan and the rest of the world. Even so, we can begin to consider lessons for the future. Recent events underscore several concerns that nuclear skeptics have raised for decades. Many of these problems are the product of human and mechanical frailty.

Simply put, humans make mistakes. We will never design a perfectly safe nuclear power plant. We will always have incomplete information about the nature and level of threats to these power plants. Assuming otherwise demonstrates hubris, and increases the risk of being unprepared for catastrophic events.