Bracing for the Fallout

While atomic-energy officials around the world were trying to escape the political fallout from the Chernobyl accident, some of their American colleagues were fearful that the tragedy could doom their industry for years, perhaps even decades, to come. The U.S. industry has long been in deep trouble, and now it has to prepare for new attacks on several fronts.

In Washington, a collection of consumer, environmental and scientific groups known as the Coalition of Environmental/Safe Energy Organizations called for a complete phaseout of nuclear power plants in the U.S. In Pennsylvania, protesters in Lancaster and Dauphin counties vowed to increase efforts...