THE KEMENY REPORT

could have been worse, especially with people like Weaver, Peterson, and von Hippel on the Commission. It put the blame (correctly, we believe) mostly on the utility, the operators, and the NRC. It found only minor faults with equipment and design; found no health effects beyond the mental stress suffered by a misinformed public during the incident; and expected no detectable health effects in the future. Whence it followed by iron logic that it recommended stringent measures almost amounting to a moratorium on new plants, which the NRC quickly turned into a defacto moratorium at least until next spring.

The NRC's action reminds us of another government official¾the one who worked for the imperial Roman administration and said "I find no fault in this man," but had him crucified anyway.