Shakespeare's quote from Julius Caesar: "The evil men do lives after them—the good is oft interred with their bones" is particularly true for nuclear energy. The least accident that might be construed to have safety significance is seized upon by the foes of nuclear power as an indication of its potentially horrendous consequences. Even in the case of people or organizations that are neutral, one can anticipate a "bad press" in the event of incidents at nuclear power plants.
A good example of such a case occurred recently in the West Virginia cooling tower accident which resulted in 51 deaths. Shortly after it was reported, I received a phone call asking whether the fatalities had occurred at a nuclear or a non-nuclear power plant. In this instance it was non-nuclear. One can guess at the headline if it had been nuclear even if the plant was still under construction— probably:...
