Three Mile Island Case Study

This research paper discusses the Three Mile Island incident to include what started it, the results in the aftermath, and how it could have been prevented. The Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) reactor, near Middletown, Pa., partially melted down on March 28, 1979. This was the most serious accident in U.S. commercial nuclear power plant operating history, although its small radioactive releases had no detectable health effects on plant workers or the public. Its aftermath brought about sweeping changes involving emergency response planning, reactor operator training, human factors engineering, radiation protection, and many other areas of nuclear power plant operations. It also caused the NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission) to tighten and

Since coal pollutes the air and gives off a lot of carbon dioxide, many European nations switched to natural gas or nuclear power to produce electricity.

Three Mile Island in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, contained the most serious commercial nuclear accident in U.S. history. The events that followed taught the U.S. a lesson learned about nuclear power and the damage it can cause. The Three Mile accident paved the way for reforms in the way nuclear power plants were operated and regulated. the location of the island, the accident, the meltdown, the aftermath, and the media circus were all critical points in the lessons learned.

Energy is an important part of life producing the power of movement, heat, and production of electricity in many different ways. Therefore, choosing the correct source of energy is important for the environment and humans. Renewable energy that produces electricity never runs out, causing a lower environmental impact. Solar, Biomass, Wind, Geothermal, and Hydropower energy should be used globally to produce electricity. On the other hand, producing electricity from nonrenewable energy sources can be very harmful to humans and the environment. Humans can easily be dependent on it, which may not be the best option when it comes to finance, efficiency, sustainability and more. Approximately 52% of the US electricity comes from polluting sources like natural gas, oil, nuclear, and hydropower that have a lot of disadvantages effecting the environment in a negative way.

Thomas Edison once said, “I have not failed 10,000 times. I have succeeded in proving that those 10,000 ways will not work,” he said of his method of experimentation. “When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the ways that will work.” Up until the late 1830’s electricity was derived from many non-renewable sources such as coal, oil, and natural gases. These are also known as fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are the major energy sources that are being used in the world today. The production of fossil fuels account for more than one-third of U.S global emissions, which trap heat, steadily drive up the plant’s temperature, and create harmful impacts on our health, our environment, and our climate. Their sources are limited and depleting at a faster

This accident has been, by far the worst nuclear power plant accident within the borders of the United States.However, the studies conducted by governmental groups such as the Nuclear Regulatory Committee (NRC), the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Health, Department of Energy, and the State of Pennsylvania as well as numerous independent organizations have deemed that the accident at Three Mile Island had very little, if an at all, effects on the health of the communities surrounding the plant.[8]

Nowadays, coal is still one of the greatest used energy to generate power in so many countries. Using coal in electricity generation is 93% in South African, 87% in Poland, 79% in China, 78% in Australia, 45% in USA, 41% in Germany, 58% in Israel etc. (Coal & Electricity) From the data above, even the developed countries use coal to generate power as the main source. In many developed countries, energy generation is still based on coal as a long-term source. In recent years, although there is an increasing number of equipment using gas and wind to generate the power, it is still lower than the proportion of coal-fired power generation. The reason why most countries choose coal as a main source to generate electricity, is that there are many advantages in using coal to generate electricity. First of all, coal is the

Base on the census information, Queens and Brooklyn hold the most Chinese population in New York City. Over 70% of the populations are family households; 20% are under 17 years old and over 10% are over 65. Obviously, community church model is best fitting to serve these Chinese families. Between Queens and Brooklyn, there are few major universities in Queens and Long Island. Thus, it is easier to reach out college students in Queens. However, there are more low-income new immigrants residing in Brooklyn because of the less expensive housing comparing to Queens. It is easier to reach out to the grass-roots level there. For the younger and second generation of the Chinese immigrants’ families, they like to move to Long Island to get more space.

I think Three Mile Island should be shut down. The reasons it should be shut down are of its high cost and safety hazards.

PA should not close TMI because it is important to the inhabitants of this state. According to the CEO of Exelon, Chris Cane, about 675 workers will lose their job if this power plant retires. Nuclear power plants, in general, don’t take up a lot of space, causing local habitats to be preserved. The fuel for nuclear power plants, uranium, can last us for 70-80 years, which can last longer than fossil fuels. We should keep TMI open because it is a reliable source of energy for the people around it, it can last us a long time, and it is a cleaner source of energy to use.

About education defines energy as “the ability to do work” (Helmenstine, A. 2016) which conveys that it can be used to produce electricity, cooling, heating and many more for our homes, office, and indeed for our environment. Although, it have undoubtedly became an important part of our life, making our task easier to achieve; it still has a lot of negative impacts whether it be on the environment, the health of humans, or the animals. The most common type of energy that is being used today is fossil fuels. “For many years, Aboriginal communities in Northern Canada have relied on technologies that use fossil fuels” (Issues Related to Energy Changes, 2016). Many of the negative impacts that fossil fuel has on the environment are global warming,

The Industrial Revolution sparked a need for large sources of energy. Human and animal labor could not provide the power necessary to power industrial machinery, railroads, and ships. The steam engine and later the internal combustion engine provided the bulk of the energy required by the industrial age. Today most nations are still heavily reliant on energy that comes from combustion. Usually coal, petrolium, and natural gas are used. Some hydroelectric, wind power, and nuclear fission sources are used, but in the US they accounted for less than 20% of the total energy consumption in 1997 (1). Many experts are worried that natural resources such as coal and petrolium are being depleted faster than they are being replenished, which could

CO2 is the most significant greenhouse gas, which mainly comes from the use of fossil fuels. Many people feel that content of CO2 in the atmosphere is the main reason for manmade global warming. The main sources of CO2 emissions involve electricity generation, industrial processes, fumes from transportation and commercial buildings and use. Emissions of greenhouse gases, such as CO2, to the atmosphere are expected to cause even more of a significant change in global climate (Davison, 2007). The main focus to try to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is to reduce the amount that is released from coal-fired power plants. Greenhouse gas emissions that involve the productions of electricity come from natural gas production and coal-fired power plant operations. Natural gas production accounts for twenty-four percent and coal-fired power plant operations accounts for seventy-five percent, while the other one percent is caused by other electricity generation operations. The main reason why coal-fired power plants have a higher percentage of emissions is because the sulfur content of coal is much higher than that of other fossil fuels (Jarmaillo et al., 2007). This proves that there is a great need to find an alternative fossil fuel to use instead of coal. Although coal is easy to mine, transport and process for the electricity generation process, it is also the

Although humans use electricity for almost everything we do, we don’t realise that this is harming our environment in many ways. The production of electricity is causing a major loss of the earth’s natural resources such as:

Figure above shows the percentage of electric energy in the U.S. Over 50% of the energy is from coal. This year nuclear energy use was increasing; however, it creates radioactive. Natural gas will pollute the air and caused global warming. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, wind is the fastest growing energy resource. It increased by 46.6 percent by 2005.