Nation: Now Comes The Fallout

The White House and Congress reappraise nuclear safety

Without warning, a second nuclear era had begun. Gone was the industry's and government's confidence of old; reappraisal and caution would now be the order of the day. The unthinkable had come perilously close to happening, causing second thoughts about the form of energy that promises to relieve dependence on ever diminishing, ever more expensive fossil fuel supplies.

For six riveting days, the nation-and the world-watched a gas bubble build up in a nuclear reactor at Three Mile Island near Harrisburg, Pa., and threaten to cause...

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