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March 28, 1979: Reactor Meltdown at Three Mile Island

by arkansawyer | March 28, 2007 at 02:31 pm

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The sign at the site says:

NUCLEAR ACCIDENT AT THREE MILE ISLAND
On March 28, 1979, and for several days thereafter -- as a result of technical malfunctions and human error -- Three Mile Island's Unit 2 Nuclear Generating Station was the scene of the nation's worst commercial nuclear accident. Radiation was released, a part of the nuclear core was damaged, and thousands of residents evacuated the area. Events here would cause basic changes throughout the world's nuclear power industry.

I can remember being a young boy, and stories of Three Mile Island and Love Canal in New York were stealing the headlines from international events. TMI scared me when I moved to PA, and as a result, I put a couple of mountains between it and my home.... but after a few years, it blends in and seems a part of the scenery...... but somewhere in the back of my mind - and in the back of others I am sure - is this nagging awareness that a catastrophe could happen someday ... this abundance of electricity produced by Nuclear Fission has a good side and a bad side......

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joellerose

at 16:02 on March 28th, 2007

No-one died at Three Mile Island. Since then 100's of thousands of people have died as a result of shutting down nuclear energy projects. Because of this we have to protect the oil fields and oil routes of the Middle East. Thousands of oil field and refinery workers and coal miners have been killed, and particulates in the air are causing death and disease. Many countries around the world get much of their power (France gets 75%) safely and the lowest cost from nuclear energy.

arkansawyer

at 16:20 on March 28th, 2007

I actually rather agree. Although the sign at the sight indicates that radiation was released, there was no "measurable" (arguable by some people) radiation released according to equipment at the time. And the near-tragedy has awakened people to the very real dangers inherint in the nuclear energy projects. That in and of itself made the whole process safer by increasing awareness, but at the same time, public reaction and politics caused a knee-jerk reaction on the parts of many which led to increased dependence on oil and other fossil fuels.

It would be nice if we would find a way to find a clean source of energy without side effects.....

joellerose

at 16:32 on March 28th, 2007

Look into the potential of the PBR reactor which has no meltdown capability and produces free hydrogen if desired.

arkansawyer

at 04:19 on March 29th, 2007

Is it feasible or even practical to retrofit existing plants with this technology? (I did do some reading up on it, and it sounds good, but I am still ignorant about PBR and related technologies)...