Originally Posted by
Frozen_Feet
In my opinion, if it's anything that would be used on a normal fire, it doesn't count as "desperate". Shooting gallons and gallons of water from a distance to cool down something is nothing to bat an eyelid at.
In any case, while terrifying due to its nuclear aspect, the reactor is much less of a disaster than countless oil fires and what not that have been caused in the aftermath.
In any case, calling this a "screw-up" is a misnomer. The only real counter to a disaster of this magnitude would be to never build anything near a coast or a continental line. Following this strategy, most of the world's biggest cities would have to be abandoned.