Japan Ignored And Long Hid Nuclear Risks.

OMAEZAKI, Japan -- The nuclear power plant, lawyers argued, could not withstand the kind of major earthquake that new seismic research now suggested was likely. If such a quake struck, electrical power could fail, along with backup generators, crippling the cooling system, the lawyers predicted. The reactors would then suffer a meltdown and start spewing radiation into the air and sea. Tens of thousands in the area would be forced to flee. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]