A Nuclear Power Plant Accident Examined.

There was an accident at the Prairie Island nuclear power plant in Minnesota that made the papers today. What happened?

[N]o radiation was released outdoors . . . [About 100] workers were wearing protective gear May 2 when they were exposed to low levels of radioactive iodine . . . Most received 10 to 20 millirems of radiation, about the same as a dental X-ray. They were decontaminated and allowed to go home[.]

An accident causing comparable harm in a fossil fuel facility wouldn't make the papers at all, with the possible exception of the traffic report, because a comparable fossil fuel accident probably would have filled the entire metropolitan area with hazardous smoke.