Not forgiving anything but put your mindset into that of the 50s.
They had no idea. They even considered using atomic bombs to cut through mountains to build roads (whatever the hwy is that circumvented route 66).
They had no idea what dangers they were potentially people through. It was a BIG explosion. That was as far ahead as they were thinking at the time. Slowly they learnrd different and changed their perspective as evidence became available.
PLEASE dont think I am supporting what they did. They literally had no idea. Data took YEARS to realize what the side effects were.