reporter: there are 31 plants in the u.s. similar to those in trouble in japan, designed by general electric, which is a part owner of nbc universal. one, to oyster creek in new jersey, is the oldest nuclear plant in the country, about 50 miles from new york city. issue three, backup power systems. experts say the japanese reactors basically got into trouble because they lost electricity and backup power systems failed, too, leaving them struggling to cool the reactor core. marvin furtherle of the nuclear energy institute, which speaks for the nuclear industry, says thanks to improvements since 9/11, u.s. plants have more ability to cope if power is lost. we would actually be able to handle the situation much easier than the japanese are facing right now. could what happened in japan happen here? could we have an event that we think i would say it is highly improbable it happened here f it did happen, i think we
right now is egypt. what we wouldn t want to have happen is dictatorship replaced by democracy and dictatorship again. there are positive signs in egypt. when i say it s a pivotal country because it s histor historically such an important country in the middle east and trend setting country. this coming weekend, we ll see a ref r referendum in egypt on the new egyptian constitution and for the first time, will have a president term limited. there are steps in the right directions. we need to think of ways to channel the popular will expressed in the middle east in the democratic direction. you saw what happened when they had someone that went out to tahrir square and said they did a great thing and will control it ourselves. they kept the guy from google off the stage there. they showed there s enormous
states, china won t be. there is such an ov over there was an overreaction to japan. and to the japanese coming and buying key america land. that worried people a lot. it s the same thing with china. we re overreacting. then is going to undergo many of the same growing pains. they re not going to be able to grow at the clip they re growing. i m not saying we don t have to get our economic house in order- to use the chinese example to say we have to invest in education. japan is the oldest country on earth. its median age in 1960 starting up was 25 years old. it was a young country. its median age is 45, going up to 55 by 2050. it s going to lose 20 million people in this decade and 6 million people in the decade after that. it is aging, shrinking and dying because of the population. they have enormous ingenuity and
people have to say, we have to get out of this country? we re praying for the wind at this point. fortunately, the pre-australiaing winprevailing winds in this area go out into the ocean. that has been very good news. if they move south, it would put tokyo on the if they move west, it would put korea. probably people might need to make their own decision. as we were talking earlier, catty kay was on the inside, in japan covering for three years, dissemination of information, different reasons why it may be more difficult to get exact information out. dee dee myers inside the white house, you re dealing with japan, trying to figure out what is happening, what can you tell us about, well, how you get a sense of what s really going on from this point of view, so we can make decisions as well in terms of our people? one of the problems, not just for the american government, the japanese people is information is coming out slowly, not coming
is the u.s. at risk for a nuclear crisis. you re watching morning joe brewed by starbucks. [ male announcer ] unrestrained. unexpected. and unlike any hybrid you have ever known. introducing the most fuel-efficient luxury car available. the radically new, 42 mile per gallon ct hybrid from lexus. welcome to the darker side of green. [music playing] confidence available in color. depend® colors for women. looks and fits like underwear. protects like nothing else. depend®. good morning. great day. across the country when the economy tumbled, jpmorgan chase set up new offices