Three Mile Island Nuclear Accident Analysis

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

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.

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]

To understand the Three Mile Island incident, a background knowledge is needed. What is a nuclear power plant? Nuclear power plants are energy producing facilities. The energy is produced in a nuclear reactor located in the facility. The plants use heat generated from nuclear fission which occurs in a contained area and in which water is converted to steam. Nuclear fission is the division of a nucleus in two approximate equal masses. When this process is completed a release of a large

Metropolitan Edison Company: Victor Stello(nuclear engineer for the plant), Jack Herbein (nuclear engineer for the plant; discussed the issue with the press and basically lied and said that everything was controlled and there was no real danger), Ed Hauser (went into the reactor to check the actual amount of radiation inside of the reactor; result was shocking=100rem/hr, coolant water was not clear and was actually yellow and fizzing with 1250rem), Roger Mattson (another nuclear engineer who butted heads with Victor Stello over how to handle the situation in the plant)

Three Mile Island is a nuclear power plant, and nuclear energy is energy in the nucleus (core) of an atom. They use nuclear energy to provide electricity for the U.S. Nuclear energy can be good and it also could be bad ways that it can be good are that gives us electricity and helps us discover how old fossils are, and ways that nuclear energy can be bad that if a nuclear power plant explodes it could kill millions that are around in the area and then no one can’t live there because there is too much radiation and if you get close you could die.

The first reason it should be shut down is because of its high cost. The costs have been about 14 billion dollars just to make two new reactors and it is very difficult to make a profit. I understand that scientist are trying to fix the problem of pollution by using reusable resources, but the state will eventually be clean out of uranium to mine. This causes the state to fund the two nuclear plants producing no source of energy. On March 28, 1979, Three Mile Island had an accident that caused TMI-2, a generator system on Three Mile Island, to cease power production; however, TMI-1 is currently still producing power

Across the Susquehanna in Cumberland County, they implore us to allow the Reactor to begin again. They ask us why they didn’t get a vote – after all, they need power too. Last time I checked, Three Mile Island is not in Cumberland County. If the citizens of Cumberland County wish to move Three Mile Island to their neck of the woods, we will gladly take them up on their offer.

On Wednesday, March 28, 1979, around 4 a.m., there was a failure in the water pumps at the Three Mile Island in Middletown, Pennsylvania. This led to a partial meltdown of a nuclear power plant. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (now Health and Human Services), the Department of Energy, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania all conducted particular studies of the radiological consequences of the accident. Approximately two million people were estimated to have received an average of one millirem of radiation, and there was a maximum dose to a person who was at the site of 100 millirem (“Backgrounder”). To put this into perspective, an exposure from a single chest X-ray is two to six millirem (“Doses”). However, this put fear into the minds of politicians and others all across the country. What the people do not know, though, is nuclear is better. Instead of using fossil-fuels and wind power, America ought to switch to nuclear energy to power the country because it is safer, cleaner, less expensive, and more reliable than the current ways of producing energy

Many of the same ineffectual workers that had worsened the incident, were mistakenly sharing conflicting data and misinformation with both government officials and the press. Rumors of deadly doses of radiation being released onto the public began to swirl as a byproduct of the confusion. Nearly 140,000 frantic citizens fled the area in the days that followed. State officials advised the remaining citizens to refrain from venturing outside of the home, and recommended farmers in the area to herd their livestock into shelter. The governor of Pennsylvania, Dick Thornburgh, even went far as to take the precautionary measure of issuing the evacuation of all pregnant women from the area. Without as much as single death or injury linked to the Three Mile Island incident, a petrified America became united under fear. In a matter of days, the seemingly visionary road leading to the age of nuclear power was entirely weathered away, and the people now wanted

In Pennsylvania, the worst nuclear power plant accident in the United States occurred. Nuclear power plants generate a mass of electricity using steam generators. The plants are very controversial concerning their safety with the environment and its role with unstable reactants like uranium and plutonium. On March 12, 1979, someone at the Three Mile Island’s second reactor, or TMI-2 for short, left a relief valve wide open leading large amounts of nuclear reactant cooling to the main reactor. All of the coolant leaving TMI-2 was recognized by the control panel in the plant but was disregarded as a loss that typically happens. At first, the surrounding towns were told that the incident wasn’t anything of worry. But after a couple days

Each year, enormous quantities of radioactive waste are created during the nuclear fuel process, including 2,000 metric tons of high-level radioactive waste and 12 million cubic feet of low-level radioactive waste in the U.S. alone. More than 58,000 metric tons of highly radioactive spent fuel already has accumulated at reactor sites around the U.S. for which there currently is no permanent repository. Even if Yucca Mountain is licensed, the Department of Energy has stated that it would not open before 2017. In 1979, the United States had its own disaster following an accident at the Three Mile Island Nuclear Reactor in Pennsylvania.In avoiding such accidents the industry has been very successful. In over 16,000 cumulative reactor years of

On March 28, 1979, one of the most serious accidents in U.S. commercial nuclear power plant operating history that occurred. The Three Mile Island incident was rated a five on the seven-point international event scale. Three Mile Island Unit 2 reactor partially melted down. Three Mile Island is an island in Middletown, Pennsylvania. It was a cooling system

Many critics argue that due to the Three Mile Island nuclear incident that occurred March 28, 1979, in Pennsylvania resulted in a reactor meltdown, with no casualties due to a combination of equipment failure and a lack of operators understanding what to do to a faulty reactor. This incident has put the majority public to have safety concerns over not only the operators working in the plants but also the civilians in the surrounding area. Yet since the accident, the United States formed the National Academy for Nuclear Training to improve training the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations which reviews and accredits nuclear utilities’ training programs for all key positions at each plant. In addition, nuclear energy plants have proven the ability to produce clean electricity without greenhouse gas emissions and the reliability due to its increased efficiency and increased power output.

Three Mile Island nuclear plant is located in Pennsylvania, United State. The accident began on 28 March, 1979, a core meltdown in TMI-2 reactor. According to accident report, it was attributed by both human factors and mechanical failures: Something wrong happened in TMI-2’s secondary system, and resulted in a series of failures. The pilot-operated relief valve (PORV) automatically opened, but did not closed, which led coolant water to escape. The operator misread the situation and did not take proper actions in the first place due to inadequate training. The accident finally led to the release of about 2.5 million curies of radioactive gases, and 15 curies of radioiodine.