I wonder why @dang would consider an article such as this postworthy without any doubt, whereas he had to be convinced to allow an article about a literal armed rebellion against a nuclear power...
For the same reason that e.g. a supreme court decision doesn't get read at a concert.
People sometimes argue that a story is so important it ought to be on HN, but that's a non sequitur. HN isn't about the most important things in the world. Many things are far more important than everything on the front page right now. HN is a site for intellectual curiosity, and that's always going to involve a certain amount of trivia - like living in spherical homes, or pumping your own gas in Oregon.