Chernobyl inspired musings

Friends, today I saw the battle of Chernobyl on Discovery channel. And at the end of it, I can say only one thing - its horrifying. 26 April 1986 was when the tragedy struck. For some who are ill-informed regarding the tragedy, here is a brief synopsis (of course, its true to the best of my knowledge and memory):
There were 4 reactors at Chernobyl nuclear powerplant. On 26th April 1986, during the night, the third reactor exploded. Now consider the following statistics. It contained 195 tons of radioactive material. The temperature of the surrounding at a distance of 200 mtrs was above 100 degrees celcius. THe radiations were eating into the floor for which Russia had to dig up channels below the reactor and install cement concrete barriers. The nuclear waste was sprayed over with tons of sand and lead. THe high temperature melted lead and evaporised some parts, leading to lead poisoning and even today, children born around chernobyl suffer from its wretched grasps. Vegetation produced even today is contaminated and only way out is the impossible task of razing away 20 cms of soil from all around chernobyl and dumping it somewhere!! Robots employed for cleaning stopped working after a brief period.The workers employed for cleaning, called the biorobots, worked for 45 seconds, i repeat 45 seconds before coming out of the terrace and returning back. Just 45 seconds. Most of them have died or suffer from irreversible diseases. Just imagine. The radiation over the terrace after 3 months or so, was 12000-15000 Roentgens. The potentially fatal limit is 400. People initially exposed to the radiation died, and its obvious that during initial months the radiation level was still higher. AMount spent that time was 1800 crore reubels, which was nearly 1800 crore dollars, in 1986. 45 metres high steel claddings cover the area and they need to be replaced now. CHernobyl even today isnt safe for living.
Now my point is this - Just imagine folks. 195 tons of Uranium, with density around 19000, seems to be no more than a couple of stacks of bunk beds. ANd that created a havoc of so many years, so much wealth, and most important of all, the destruction or degeration of living organisms. Even today, children are born with deformations beyond the levels of acceptancy, thyroid cancer is as common as common cold. THe so called biorobots are in age group of 40-50 years today and already look like our next door nonagenarian. And they were exposed for about 40-50 seconds.
Russia has some 2700 s-something missiles which can create havoc af 100 chernobyls each. And only good lord, and the so-called "presidents of responsible nuclear nations" know how many more such missiles exist even today. And imagine the destruction it will cause if some little oil-bearing nation sticks its fingers at Uncle Sam who suddenly has the itch to teach the little pest some lessons in nuclear power, by exploding a couple of fat, tall and god-knows-what boys!! And to think that science was supposed to be helpful to mankind.
Friends, have we made a grave mistake of disrespecting science? Its not just the chernobyls, and the hiroshimas i am talking about. Take ourselves. Consider our own everyday encounters with potential death-traps. How many times have we forgotten to respect speed and throw caution to the winds just because of some thrill of fast motor-cycling? No, I do not advocate to be paranoid or something. But then, shouldnt we be a little scared of science, just out of respect? Shouldnt we be more thoughtful while dealing with resources we have, and not spend them as if it is our last day on planet earth?
I totally am in favour of advancement of science and technology. Nuclear energy can be safely harnessed also. But I think it is high time we paid science due respect. Who knows, our ego-tripping and fool hardiness might just wipe out the whole earth of mankind in the matter of nano-seconds.
Think friends, just think.
Cheers!