Unfortunately it is a problem with human psychology that we respond more strongly to a singular large event than to consistent low-level events. I agree with t

Unfortunately it is a problem with human psychology that we respond more strongly to a singular large event than to consistent low-level events. I agree with that in general, although my opinion on this particular comparison differs. we're comparing approx 60k deaths, over the course of approximately 60 years Sorry to be nitpicking, but I'm not sure where the 60 years are coming from. However, since there's no hard data to rely on I'll even concede that plane accidents may have accounted for the same or slightly more "directly related" deaths in the same timeframe. But: This is only a single datapoint. And a relatively "lucky" one. The surrounding area around Chernobyl was sparsely populated and quickly evacuated. This is not representative for the locations of the majority of nuke plants, and certainly not for the Fukushima area. If we imagine a worst-case scenario in Japan, with Tokyo right around the corner, then the second data-point could already change the equation in a drastic way. This is why I think analogies to plane-crashes or traffic-accidents are invalid.