The only reason the "what if" scenario of the foot melting through the bottom of the containment vessel and hitting the water table didn't occur is because a lot of people were willing to put their lives on the line.

I actually agree that nuclear is pretty safe. But charts and graphs that attempt to demonstrate "safety" solely in the number of lives actually lost bother me. A lot. Especially when a lot of men at Chernobyl and Fukushima sacrificed themselves in order to keep those number as low as they actually are.

And while we're discussing the "real world", we might also discuss the fact that dams and reservoirs are predominately used for flood control and mitigation efforts, as well as to manage and maintain water used for minor things like irrigation and drinking.

So no. I'm not blaming dams and hydropower for rendering large areas uninhabitable. Quite the opposite, in fact.