"After Fukushima, Utilities Prepare for Worst"

"PEACH BOTTOM, Pa. — Stored near the twin nuclear reactors here, safely above the flood level of the Susquehanna River, is a gleaming new six-wheel pickup truck with a metal blade on the front that can plow away debris from an earthquake or other disaster. Attached to the back is a trailer that carries a giant diesel-powered pump that can deliver 500 gallons of water a minute."

"If the operators at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan had owned such equipment when the tsunami struck three years ago Tuesday, they might have staved off disaster, plant operators say.

Now, here at the Peach Bottom nuclear plant, which has the same design as Fukushima Daiichi, engineers and technicians are busy applying such lessons, preparing for a worst-case scenario even worse than the plant’s designers envisioned in the 1970s."

Matthew L. Wald reports for the New York Times March 9, 2014.