Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant

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

This caused reactors 1 through 3 to go into a meltdown and it created a situation where Japan was on the brink of a major environmental disaster. To fully understand the different events there will be a focus on: factors that caused the meltdown, why this did not impact the other three reactors, the consequences, who is responsible and how these incidents can be prevented in the future. Together, these elements will highlight the underlying effects of this disaster and its impact on the region. ("Fukushima Accident")

Arjun Makhijani, a prominent researcher for The Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, claims that today’s emission rate of carbon dioxide is about nine gigatons annually and that the Earth only has the capability to absorb 3 gigatons annually—thus a problem arises. Furthermore, Makhijani states that about 2/3rds of the carbon dioxide emissions are caused by the burning of fossil fuels such as coal and petroleum. With those shocking statistics in mind, fossil fuel’s emission of carbon dioxide is thought to be the leading cause of climate change—which is responsible for irreversible and catastrophic changes to the Earth. Yet, scientist had tremendous difficulty finding a safe, effective, and efficient form of energy supply that will met the great consumption rate. Many prominent scientist suggest that nuclear power is the most plausible explanation and solution to the fuel crisis. However, despite nuclear power having a exponentially lower emission rate, it presents its own hazards and threats—such as the Chernobyl and the Three Mile Island incidents. These accidents have many activists and politicians cautious about the prospect of using nuclear power as a complete alternative to fossil fuels—regardless nuclear plants are responsible for 11% of the energy supplied to the world annually (World Nuclear Association.) What many of the activist and politicians seem to overlook is that fossil fuels are an indefinite energy supply and will quite possible run out within

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

For some reason, the center control rod, possibly for maintenance purposes, was manually lifted approximately 50 cm (Stacy, 2000, 141). This caused there to be an instant, or prompt, criticality which caused the reactor to blow up (Stacy, 2000, 141). The reason for this appears to be that the reactor activated due to the reaction caused by the influx of water, a moderator, into the system. The reaction rapidly heated the moderator and the cooling water to steam which expanded in the small containment vessel and caused the reactor pressure lid to blow off of the vessel (Stacy, 2000, 141). Two of the three men, who were working inside the reactor compartment, apparently died instantly from the explosion. The other

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

First and foremost Three Mile Island (TMI) is going through a debate on why it should close, or why it should stay open. In my opinion TMI should stay open for multiple reasons, all conclude with the Earth, and Money. When a small load is made in each Nuclear Power Plant makes it can generate 18 months of electricity for the area around it. This is wonderful for humans this means we will burn less Fossil Fuels and this means we can have them longer. It also means that we will not receive more pollution than we already have in the air. Another reason keeping this energy is that it saved 1.3 millions of lives. How does nuclear power save lives? Nuclear energy causes less air pollution, and this means 1.84 millions of lives are being saved, these

Countless nuclear power plant accidents have been occurring quite frequently since its invention. Some accidents have even been underestimated,

The disaster took place on April 1986, and was caused by inexperienced staff. When the power plant had to undergo a special test, to make sure that sufficient amount of cooling water would be supplied to the reactor in case of a power outage. However, the test had been delayed, because the national grid required the power output more than the expected time. Hence, the test was postponed after midnight where the night shift had to come. The night shift had little experience about such a test as most of them were electrical engineers rather than nuclear. On the other hand, the night shift had to perform the test before the grid needed the power again, otherwise they would have all been fined or fired. Consequently, lead to an unnecessary pressure on the personnel, which in turn increased the probability of making incorrect

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.

The cost of a nuclear power facility is more complicated when dealing in particular with the initial capital costs of nuclear power plants. Furthermore, it is important to understand that the investment cost of a nuclear power plant is extremely high. Ernest Moniz, United States Secretary of Energy, estimates that the cost of investing in nuclear power plants has increased substantially (Moniz 2011). According to Moniz, “New regulations will inevitably increase the costs of nuclear power, and nuclear power plants, with a price tag of around $6-$10 billion each, are already much more expensive to build than are plants powered by fossil fuels” (Moniz 2011). Despite the high price of the initial investment, the capital costs of nuclear power plants are expected to decrease in the future. In addition to high capital costs, Economist Ian Shultz identifies added risks that are associated with investing in a nuclear power plant. A few of Shultz identified costs for construction of a new nuclear power plant involves risk in construction delays, public opposition, and changes in the regulatory environment (Shultz 2012).