Yeah, plausible - I come from a very small state in the south that never had a nuclear plant (hint hint), and as the books read in school are chosen by the state, it probably wasn't a priority.

I have never come across it outside of school either though, even until today, and I still spend a lot of time reading and in libraries and book stores. Which makes me think it only circulated within these 2 groups - political anti-nuclear readership, and then from there into school readings.