What was going on when I was born?

The nuclear power industry, already reeling from stagnant demand for electricity, huge cost overruns for new construction and mounting environmental opposition, has been dealt a devastating blow by the Federal Government in recent actions, several of the nation's biggest utilities said over the weekend. In decisions announced last week, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said it would close the Consolidated Edison Company's Indian Point nuclear plant if the utility did not come up with an acceptable emergency evacuation plan, and fined the operators of the Salem nuclear plant in New Jersey $850,000 for safety violations. The actions came against the backdrop of a Supreme Court decision upholding the right of municipalities to bar nuclear plants within their boundaries. Evan Silverstein, an analyst for L.F. Rothchild and Company, characterized the moves as ''another nail in the coffin of nuclear power.'' He added that ''every time the nuclear industry receives another setback there are countless investors out there that say to themselves, 'That's it, this is too big a gamble at any price.' ''

''I grew up in a tough neighborhood in Rhode Island. If someone took a swing at me, being a good Irishman, I would say swing back.

Secretary of State George P. Shultz said today that he was very encouraged by Saudi Arabia's reaction to the Israeli-Lebanese withdrawal agreement and to his efforts to bring about a pullout of Syrian troops from Lebanon. Mr. Shultz spoke to reporters on his Air Force plane as he wound up a two-week tour of the Middle East. He began the day in Saudi Arabia and then went on to Israel and Lebanon before flying here tonight. After his talks with Saudi leaders in Jidda, Mr. Shultz said both King Fahd and Prince Saud al-Faisal, the Foreign Minister, had questioned him extensively about the details of the Israeli-Lebanese agreement, which Syria criticized sharply on Saturday. He said of the Saudis, ''I don't want to speak for them, but I considered it to be very worthwhile and encouraging from our standpoint.''

On Thursday Susana Martinez Duran's hopes were high. After quickly arranging things at home in the southern city of Neuquen, she flew 700 miles to the capital. Her 28-year old brother disappeared in 1976, and a week ago the ruling military said that relatives of the thousands who vanished during a Government campaign against terrorism in the 1970's could go to the Interior Ministry to learn what was known of their fate. This morning, Mrs. Duran, dressed in a blue suit, stepped into the shabby back-street office to which she had been directed. Emerging 15 minutes later, her hopes crushed, she sobbed the word again and again: ''Disappeared.''

When librarians at the Connetquot Public Library in Bohemia, L.I., announced in a recent newsletter that the library would soon have three personal computers that could be checked out and taken home, they were nearly overwhelmed by the response. ''We immediately had 150 reservations,'' said Joan Zaleski, the library's director. ''So we realized we'd have to order three more. And there's still a waiting list of over a hundred.''

Major negotiations will begin here today aimed at keeping the incipient global economic recovery on course and resolving the Reagan Administration's dispute with its West European allies over trading with the Soviet bloc. The two-day meeting represents the largest gathering of ministers from industrial countries ever called by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a 24-nation group. The outcome is likely to have a decisive influence on the economic summit of the seven major industrial countries at Williamsburg, Va., May 28 to 30. The talks, which bring together ministers for foreign affairs, finance and trade from the major non-Communist countries, are likely to be overshadowed by simmering differences between the United States and its Common Market trading partners over last year's decision by President Reagan to ban deliveries of American-designed equipment to the Soviet natural gas pipeline to Europe. Bruised Relations Although the embargo was lifted last October, the action has bruised relations between the partners. Washington is still seeking tighter restraints on exports of sensitive strategic items to the East bloc, and there is a lingering sentiment here that the United States is involved in an unacceptable campaign to wage economic war against Moscow.

Even Casey Stengel would have called it amazin'. The 1983 variety of his old New York Mets team came back from a 5-0 deficit and beat the Cincinnati Reds by 10-5 yesterday with the help of a three-run homer by George Foster in the seventh inning. The Reds had scored all five of their runs in the first inning. The Mets got two back in the second, and then with the score 5-2, exploded for six runs in the seventh.

Economic ministers meet in Paris today in a bid to further a global economic recovery and to try to resolve the Reagan Administration's opposition to trading with Soviet bloc nations. The outcome of the two-day meeting, the largest ever assembled by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, is viewed as critical to the success of this month's scheduled economic summit meeting in Williamsburg, Va. (Page A1.)

International Saudi Arabia's reaction to the Israeli-Lebanon withdrawal agreement and to efforts to bring about a Syrian pullout from Lebanon was very encouraging, Secretary of State George P. Shultz said after talks with King Fahd and Prince Saud of Saudi Arabia. From Saudi Arabia, Mr. Shultz went to Israel and then to Lebanon for an unexpected meeting with Lebanese leaders that was aimed at bolstering their morale in the face of stepped-up Syrian pressure to renounce the agreement. (Page A1, Column 6.) A major economic meeting in Paris that is to start today will attempt to keep the world economy on course for recovery and to resolve the Reagan Administration's bitter dispute with its European allies over trading with the Soviet bloc. It will bring together the trade, finance and foreign affairs ministers from Western countries in the largest meeting ever called by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The outcome is likely to have a decisive influence on the economic summit of the seven major industrial nations at Williamsburg, Va., this month. (A1:2.)

Clint Richardson, noted more for his defense than his offense, scored all 7 of the Philadelphia 76ers' points in overtime today to help them to a 111-109 playoff victory over the Milwaukee Bucks at the Spectrum. Richardson's two field goals and three free throws gave the 76ers earn their fifth consecutive playoff victory and a 1-0 lead in the Eastern Conference championship series. The second game of the fourof-seven-game series will be played here Wednesday night. Normally, in a crucial situation such as the overtime period, Coach Billy Cunningham has platooned the high-scoring Andrew Toney and Richardson, but today Cunningham did not have that luxury. Toney, who scored 22 points, fouled out with 28 seconds left in regulation time, and Julius Erving fouled out in the overtime. Cunningham was forced to finish the 5-minute extra session with three guards, the center Moses Malone, and the forward Bobby Jones on the floor.

IT was always next year for Bobby Scott -well, possibly next year. Then this spring, after 12 seasons as a backup quarterback with the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League, he joined the New Jersey Generals of the new United States Football League, and, it seemed, his time, at long last, had come. It has come slowly, and sometimes painfully, for the 34-year-old Scott. He is one of the few players with a substantial amount of professional experience. The Generals are perhaps the youngest team in the U.S.F.L., and with an offensive line and backfield of primarily eager but inexperienced youth. In the first game of the season, Herschel Walker, with only a few days of practice after having come from the University of Georgia, went in motion to the weak side of the line instead of the strong side, as the play had been designed. Scott, calling signals, saw this and realized he had to call timeout.

The record rains that have swamped the New York area after a long dry spell are causing more wheezing and sneezing than usual this spring. They are also likely to produce one of the worst spring mosquito crops in recent memory. The mosquitoes are not expected to take wing in force for another week or two. But many hay fever sufferers are already watery-eyed and sniffling. The rains delayed the development of certain trees, allergists say, causing many different kinds of trees to pollinate at the same time.