A BBC report highlights a heartening story of social consciousness taking precedence over hysterical fear and self-interest.

A group of more than 200 Japanese pensioners is volunteering to tackle the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima power station.

The “Skilled Veterans Corps”, as they call themselves, is made up of retired engineers and other professionals, all over the age of sixty.

One of the group, Yasuteru Yamada, told the BBC’s Roland Buerk that they should be facing the dangers of radiation, not the young.

The important point is that although these people are brave and noble, they are not being mindlessly heroic and self-sacrificial. They have a done a logical risk-benefit analysis and concluded that having old people take the risk of radiation makes the most actuarial sense.