Taking into account close calls is a fine idea, but they have to weighed by not merely how close to disaster they actually came but also by the magnitude of the

Taking into account close calls is a fine idea, but they have to weighed by not merely how close to disaster they actually came but also by the magnitude of the potential consequences. Very few (but not zero, granted) of the known close calls in the civilian nuclear industry had any chance whatsoever of becoming disasters comparable to something like Chernobyl. Meanwhile, you would also have to take into account similar close calls in other complex industries with the potential for mass casualty failure modes - hydroelectric dams, chemical plants, oil refineries, etc. Note that despite a litany of such cases, no one's seriously talking about abolishing any of the industries I've mentioned, except nuclear power. I think the title of the article is exactly right - nuclear power is just the usual plane vs car safety fallacy scaled up, with potentially devastating consequences for our civilization.