They got a lot of "true believers" by using unrealistically low cost estimates.
As more realistic cost estimates came in, one person wrote on the NEI blog "Am I being lied to now or was I being lied to then?"
Since then Moody's came out with even higher estimates.
If you add the cost of building an expensive recycling plant for every 4 or 5 power plants,
the costs just get higher.
Advanced fuel cycles are decades away.
Wind is cheaper now, wind and solar technology keep improving and getting cheaper,
solar PV will be cheaper than coal within a decade.
To get public support for the first Gulf War,
Hill & Knowlton had an actress pretending to be a nurse ("Nurse Nayirah") testify before Congress that she saw Iraqi soldiers pull babies from incubators. It was a moving performance carried on live TV, when this fraud was exposed, it was discovered that she had diplomatic immunity and couldn't be prosecuted for lying before Congress.
The nuclear industry has hired Hill & Knowlton to do their PR campaign, it won't be long before we see a "Nuclear Nayirah" telling all kinds of outrageous lies on live TV to get support for these expensive boondoggles.
edit to add some references:
history of cost estimates:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=115&topic_id=123614&mesg_id=123807"Nurse Nayirah":
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=115&topic_id=109843edit to add another reference on the history of cost estimates,
from "Nuclear Engineering International Magazine":
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=115&topic_id=122569