In all the decades of the nation's fuming debate over nuclear power, opponents had never spoken with such indubitable authority as Sacramento voters did last week. They became the first ever to vote, by a solid 53.4%, to shut down a functioning nuclear power plant. The decision, in a special referendum, put an end to the operations of the 15-year-old Rancho Seco facility owned by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District. Within twelve hours after the polls closed, SMUD directors, who had pledged in advance to abide by the decision, had started shutting down the plant 25 miles southeast of California's capital...
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