Three Mile Island: 40 years later - TownNews · 2019. 3. 27. · Three Mile Island: 40 years later...
1
Three Mile Island: 40 years later Incident impacts debate over nuclear energy In the core of a nuclear plant, splitting atoms create heat. Water pumped into the reactor turns into steam and then escapes through a pipe where it powers a turbine. This is what generates electricity. How nuclear power works 1969: Con- struction be- gins on second power plant on Three Mile Island (TMI-2) 1978: TMI-2 begins opera- tion March 28, 1979: The inci- dent at TMI-2 July 1980: First entry into TMI-2 contain- ment building 1981: Cleanup of TMI-2 begins with extraction of radioactiv- ity from the hundreds of thousands of gallons of re- tained cooling water. 1985: Re- moval of wreck- age from TMI-2 reactor vessel and shipment to Idaho begins 1993: TMI-2 reactor placed in post-refuel- ing monitored storage TMI-2 timeline 4 a.m.: The accident to TMI-2 hap- pened when the reactor was working at 97 percent power. It in- volved a rela- tively minor malfunction in the secondary cooling circuit which caused the tempera- ture in the cool- ant to rise. This triggered an automatic shutdown during which a relief valve failed to close. 6:57 a.m.: A plant super- visor declared a site area emergency, and less than 30 minutes later, station manager Gary Miller an- nounced a general emer- gency. Evacuations: Gov. Dick Thornburgh advised the evacuation “of pregnant women and pre- school age chil- dren...within a five-mile radius of the facility.” The evacuation zone was extended to a 20-mile radius on March 30. $1 billion ■ Amount spent on the 14-year cleanup of the TMI-2 unit, from Aug. 1979 to Dec. 1993. $2.4 billion ■ Cost in property dam- age, according to researcher Ben Sovacool. 53 (out of 129) ■ Number of nuclear power plants completed after the TMI incident of the 129 that were approved for construction before the situation. 140,000 ■ Number of people within a 20- mile radius of the plant who volun- tarily evacuated — 98 percent of them returned within three weeks. $25 million ■ Amount won in a 1981 class action lawsuit against Three Mile Island, part of which was used to found the TMI Public Health Fund. — SMITHSONIAN MUSEUM Gov. Dick Thornburgh A family talks in a Hershey evacua- tion center on March 31, 1979. Protesters picket the State Capi- tol steps on April 8, 1979. Security guards block the front gate the morning of March 28, 1979. A worker is tested for exposure to radioactivity on March 28, 1979. By John Finnerty [email protected] Forty years ago today, the nation’s worst nuclear accident began just before 4 a.m. when water pumps failed, the first in a series of human and mechanical failures that led to mass confu- sion and a panicked public in a drama that caught the attention of people around the globe. The threat of catastrophe at Three Mile Island was amplified by confusion and distrust because as the event played out, officials repeatedly were forced to admit that the situation was more dan- gerous than initially suggested. By the middle of the morning on the first day of the incident, Lt. Gov. Bill Scranton met with reporters and assured them: “there is and was no danger to public health and safety.” Hours later, he changed his tune: “This situation is more complex than the company first led us to believe,” Scranton said in a 4:30 p.m. press conference. State and federal officials ultimately determined that a mass evacuation wasn’t necessary, Gov. Dick Thornburgh only called for pregnant women and chil- dren in the area within 5 miles of the nuclear plant to evacuate. But that didn’t stop people from fleeing on their own. Estimates vary widely, but most agree that at least 50,000 and as many as 140,000 people evacuated, ac- cording to research cited by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. While the nuclear accident happened a generation ago, the shadow of Three Mile Island still looms large on the debate over nuclear energy. Today, the plant’s current owner, Exelon, has threat- ened to close the power plant unless the state passes legislation to allow nuclear power to tap into incentives designed to green energy. Critics have called the plan a $500 million bailout and it’s unclear how much momentum the proposal has developed. — WORLD NUCLEAR ASSOCIATION
Transcript of Three Mile Island: 40 years later - TownNews · 2019. 3. 27. · Three Mile Island: 40 years later...
Three Mile Island: 40 years laterIncident impacts debate over nuclear energy
In the core of a nuclear plant, splitting atoms create heat. Water pumped into the reactor turns into steam and then escapes through a pipe where it powers a turbine. This is what generates electricity.
How nuclear power works
1969: Con-struction be-gins on second power plant on Three Mile Island (TMI-2)
1978: TMI-2 begins opera-tion
March 28, 1979: The inci-dent at TMI-2
July 1980: First entry into TMI-2 contain-ment building
1981: Cleanup of TMI-2 begins with extraction of radioactiv-ity from the hundreds of thousands of gallons of re-tained cooling water.
1985: Re-moval of wreck-age from TMI-2 reactor vessel and shipment to Idaho begins
1993: TMI-2 reactor placed in post-refuel-ing monitored storage
TMI-2 timeline
4 a.m.: The accident to TMI-2 hap-pened when the reactor was working at 97 percent power. It in-volved a rela-tively minor malfunction in the secondary cooling circuit which caused the tempera-ture in the cool-ant to rise. This triggered an automatic shutdown during which a relief valve failed to close.
6:57 a.m.: A plant super-visor declared a site area emergency, and less than 30 minutes later, station manager Gary Miller an-nounced a general emer-gency.
Evacuations: Gov. Dick Thornburgh advised the evacuation “of pregnant women and pre-school age chil-dren...within a five-mile radius of the facility.” The evacuation zone was extended to a 20-mile radius on March 30.
$1 billion ■ Amount spent
on the 14-year cleanup of the TMI-2 unit, from Aug. 1979 to Dec. 1993.
$2.4 billion ■ Cost in
property dam-age, according to researcher
Ben Sovacool.
53 (out of 129) ■ Number of nuclear power plants
completed after the TMI incident of the 129 that were approved for construction before the situation.
140,000 ■ Number of people within a 20-
mile radius of the plant who volun-tarily evacuated — 98 percent of them returned within three weeks.
$25 million ■ Amount won in a 1981 class
action lawsuit against Three Mile Island, part of which was used to
found the TMI Public Health Fund.
— SMITHSONIAN MUSEUM
Gov. Dick Thornburgh
A family talks in a Hershey evacua-tion center on March 31, 1979.
Protesters picket the State Capi-tol steps on April 8, 1979.
Security guards block the front gate the morning of March 28, 1979.
A worker is tested for exposure to radioactivity on March 28, 1979.
By John [email protected]
Forty years ago today, the nation’s worst nuclear accident began just before 4 a.m. when water pumps failed, the first in a series of human and mechanical failures that led to mass confu-sion and a panicked public in a drama that caught the attention of people around the globe.
The threat of catastrophe at Three Mile Island was amplified by confusion and distrust because as the event played out, officials repeatedly were forced to admit that the situation was more dan-gerous than initially suggested.
By the middle of the morning on the first day of the incident, Lt. Gov. Bill Scranton met with reporters and assured them: “there is and was no danger to public health and safety.”
Hours later, he changed his tune: “This situation is more complex than the company first led us to believe,” Scranton said in a 4:30 p.m. press conference.
State and federal officials ultimately determined that a mass evacuation wasn’t necessary, Gov. Dick Thornburgh only called for pregnant women and chil-dren in the area within 5 miles of the nuclear plant to evacuate. But that didn’t stop people from fleeing on their own. Estimates vary widely, but most agree that at least 50,000 and as many as 140,000 people evacuated, ac-cording to research cited by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
While the nuclear accident happened a generation ago, the shadow of Three Mile Island still looms large on the debate over nuclear energy. Today, the plant’s current owner, Exelon, has threat-ened to close the power plant unless the state passes legislation to allow nuclear power to tap into incentives designed to green energy. Critics have called the plan a $500 million bailout and it’s unclear how much momentum the proposal has developed.
— WORLD NUCLEAR
ASSOCIATION
