Harvey Wasserman : California Quake Hit Could Irradiate Entire Country http://theragblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/harvey-wasserman-california-quake-hit.html

Had the massive 8.9 Richter-scale earthquake that has just savagedJapan hit off the California coast, it could have ripped apart at least four coastal reactors and sent a lethal cloud of radiation across the entire United States.The two huge reactors each at San Onofre and Diablo Canyon are not designed to withstand such powerful shocks. All four are extremely close to major faults.By the federal Price-Anderson Act of 1957, the owners of the destroyed reactors -- including Pacific Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison -- would be covered by private insurance only up to $11 billion, a tiny fraction of the trillions of dollars worth of damage that would be done. The rest would become the responsibility of the federal taxpayer and the fallout victims. Virtually all homeowner insurance policies in the United States exempt the insurers from liability from a reactor disaster.