Sixteen whistle-blowers interviewed during the investigation described experiences ranging from physical threats and attacks to psychological intimidation on and off the job, according to a report on the investigation published in 1993.

One whistle-blower told of a co-worker pointing to a charred mannequin used in firefighting exercises and saying the whistle-blower could end up in a similar state if his behavior did not change. The offender was disciplined, but the whistle-blower developed post traumatic stress disorder, a neurosis following an abnormally stressful experience, such as military combat or assault.

The report also detailed, although the investigation did not independently verify, other whistle-blowers' stories, including being forced off the road by an unfamiliar car while driving home from work, unidentified people shooting at a whistle-blower's home from a vehicle, poisoning of family pets and harassing phone calls late at night.

A total of 609 complaints of retaliation against whistle-blowers filed with the nuclear commission and the United States Department of Labor resulted in only 44 investigations and just 7 enforcement actions during four and a half years. A team established in 1993 to review the nuclear commission's whistle-blower protection program made 47 recommendations to improve the environment for workers who raise safety concerns. Some of those proposals have been carried out, while others have yet to be completed, Beth Hayden, deputy director of the commission's Office of Public Affairs, said.

After he lost his job, Mr. Gundersen said he had nightmares, his blood pressure went up and he suffered from impotence. He was so depressed that he came close to committing suicide, he said. "It was a question of whether I would drive my car into a tree or blow my brains out," he said. "I saw myself as a provider. I figured that if I couldn't feed my family, at least the insurance money would support them, so I decided to drive the car into a tree, because it would appear to be an accident."

But, he said, "Ultimately, I decided I would rather fight than run."

The authors of the book, "The Whistleblowers," Myron Peretz Glazer and Penina Migdal Glazer, surveyed 64 whistle-blowers and followed many from the early stages of their resistance through the final outcome.

The Glazers described the group generally as being made up of conservative people devoted to their work and their organizations who built their careers -- whether as professionals, managers or workers -- by conforming to bureaucratic life. Most had been successful until they were asked to violate their own standards of appropriate behavior in the workplace. Invariably, they believed they were defending the true mission of their organization by resisting unsafe or unlawful practices.