i_feel_great

Even if they were, and/or are surrounded by advisors with science credentials, the overwhelming political pressure coming from corporate lobbyists will likely mean science will be ignored.

Superior marketing

It was a political concensus. And that political concensus is still strong today. Our (Australian) politics are infested with it. It is like another reality with them.

"...The man (the authors seem to know it was a man, at least) who wrote the software for this machine did so alone, without documenting what he was doing. The company then sort of vaguely tested it."

Lone wolf programmer, no docs, vague testing. What kind of manager(s) would let this out the door knowing this? Never mind the lone wolf programmer. Find the managers and beat them with sticks

"... better to truck in heavy fuel oil..."

Your answer right there. The nuclear power industry just doesn't lobby hard enough.

So would be Nader Khalili

Outlier? Well that depends on a lot of things - social class, colour, gender, religion, position on the environment etc. What looks like an outlier to you may not be an outlier to lots of other people.