Three Mile Island Nuclear AccidentMarch 28, 1979

Lindsey Landolfi Professor LahnemanIHSM 611-001

Harrisburg, PAHarrisburg, PAHarrisburg, PA

Baltimore, MDPhiladelphia, PAWashington, DC

79.3 mi106 mi 120 mi

Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station

Credit: 2000 United States Disaster Preparedness Institute (USDPI) Credit: Google – Imagery , 2011 Graphic Adjustments; L. Landolfi

International Atomic Energy Agency’s

International Nuclear Event Scale for prompt communication of safety significance

• Three Mile Island, USA 1979

• Chernobyl, Ukraine 1986

• Kyshtym, Russia 1957

Credit: The International Atomic Energy Agency. Graphic Adjustments; L. Landolfi

Credit: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.Graphic Adjustments; L. Landolfi

Three Mile Island Pressurized Water Reactor Schematic

Three Mile Island Unit 2 Control Room Design

Credit: National Archives

A Nuclear Regulatory Commission inspector examines the TMI-2 control room.

Credit: Report of the President's Commission on the Accident at Three Mile Island. Graphic Adjustments; L. Landolfi

Met Ed technicians and radioactive material cleanup crew in protective gear.Credit: AP Photo

TMI employee monitoring radiation levels , across the Susquehanna river from the disabled TMI-2 reactor containment building.

Credit: AP Photo. Graphic Adjustments; L. Landolfi

Post- Three Mile Island Unit-2 Loss of Coolant Accident

Three Mile Island 25 Mile Radius Fallout Map

Fear of radiation exposure prompted voluntary evacuations in the residential areas near the TMI facility. Credit: AP Photo Credit: Nuke Times

An April 9, 1979 issue of TIME magazine highlighting the Three Mile Island nuclear controversy.

Credit: Dan Miller/Time Magazine/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

Three Mile Island Transformation from Public Asset to Liability

Cooling towers at Three Mile Island.

After the TMI accident, an issue of Mad magazine featured Alfred E. Neuman, the fictional mascot of Mad magazine, with his intellectually incurious motto, "What, me worry?" changed to, "Yes, me worry!"

Connection Between Media, Publics, & Politics

A film dramatizing the dangers of nuclear power, “The China Syndrome” was released 12 days prior to the TMI accident.

On March 30 , 1979 Walter Cronkite, to lead the CBS Evening News by saying, “we are faced with the remote but very real possibility of a nuclear meltdown at

the Three Mile Island atomic power plant.”

Federal Investigation of the Three Mile Island Accident

President J. Carter and John Kemeny, Head of the TMI Presidential Commission

Credit: Library of Congress

(Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1979)

Testimony to the Commission

Credit: Report of the President's Commission on the Accident at Three Mile Island

William Zewe, TMI-2 & TMI-1 shift supervisor; Edward Frederick andCraig Faust;TMI-2 control room operators

Garry Miller,TMI station manager; George Kunder,TMI-2 superintendent for tech. support.

Earnest Blake, Met Ed legal council; Fred Scheimann, TMI-2 shift foreman;

Seated (1 to R)

Credit: National Archives

Protestors rallying at the Pennsylvania Capitol following the Three Mile Island accident.

Anti-Nuclear Power Campaigns

Giugni, M. (2004). Social protest and policy change. Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield.

Radiation Emission and Cancer Incidence within 10 miles of Three Mile Island

Data source: Environmental Health Perspectives, vol. 5, no. 1, jan. 1997. Graphic: J. Bryan, Endeavors, vol. XIV, no. 1, Fall1997, and J. Trostle

License Renewal Application **

Submitted to NRC

Safety Review

Safety Evaluation

Audit & Review

Safety Evaluation Report with Open Items

Issued**

Onsite Inspection(s)

Inspection Report(s) Issued **

Safety Evaluation

Report Issued**

Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards

(ARCS) Review

Licenses Renewal Process &

Environmental Scoping Meetings

Environmental Review

Draft Supplement to

the GEIS Issued**

Environmental Audit

DSEIS Public

Meeting

Final Supplement to

the GEIS Issued

Hearings* NRC Decision on Application**

ACRS Letter Issued **

ACRS Review **

Opportunities for Public Interaction* If a Request for Hearing is Granted ** Available at www.nrc.gov

Credit: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.Graphic Adjustments; L. Landolfi

Nuclear Regulatory Commission License Renewal Process

Exelon Emergency Plan details the procedures designed to protect the public in event of a nuclear emergency.

Credit: Exelon Corporation

NIPP and Nuclear Sector-Specific Plan Risk Management Framework

Performance and safety enhancements of nuclear facilities lead up to a recent revival of the nuclear industry. The TMI Unit-1 license was renewed in 2009.

Credit: U.S. The Nuclear Reactors, Materials, and Waste Sector-Specific Plan, 2010

Emergency Planning for Three Mile Island Area

Credit: Exelon Corporation

TMI evacuation map detailing evacuation routes and reception centers.

Emergency Alert System

Credit: Exelon Corporation

List of EAS communication sources; radio and TV.