The chernobyl explosion

        On April 26, 1986, reactor Number 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear plant went critical. The result was an uncontrolled reaction that made a steam explosion that blew off the reactor's 1000-metric-ton, two-foot thick steel lid and blasted through the concrete containment walls around the reactor. The reactor burst into flames and two people were killed instantly. Thirty-one people would die later, mostly firefighters. Many more would die from the radiation sickness and cancers caused by the 100 million radionuclides …

…get by fine, without the large amount of radiation dumped into your body. I think that people also realized that these things are not actually safe, no matter what safety procedures you have. You are playing with nuclear energy. That's a definite "not-safe". People that are now diagnosed with some sort of cancer because of the radiation spill-off probably think somewhere along the same lines I am, except they may be a bit more angry...