Three Mile Island Research Paper

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

Although nuclear power cost the least for the amount of power it makes, it is still very expensive. To make nuclear power you have to build a nuclear power plant. To build a nuclear power you need millions of dollars. Not only that, you have to also run the nuclear power plant. To run a nuclear power plant you need to either mine the uranium and then refine yourself, or buy the uranium from another company. Once you have done this you need to run everything in the power plant, which cost money, and then pay your workers. Also when creating nuclear energy you create radioactive waste which need to be stored far away somewhere, under surveillance, to make sure that it does not ruin the environment. The owner of exelon, the one who owns Three Mile Island, said that they have lost around 800 million dollars in recent years. If exelon decided to change their mind they would end up losing even more money and eventually have to shut down.

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.

When someone thinks of problems plaguing the world, nuclear energy is not the first thing that comes to peoples minds these days.[1]Nuclear power was once deemed the new energy of the future.[2]However, numerous nuclear power plant accidents around the world put a damper on that notion.The United States considers itself one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world, but 103 nuclear reactors currently operating within her borders, one was bound to fail sometime or another.[3]

As humans we want to have a good life, have a home, maybe a family and feel safe. With the advances in industry such as energy production we can have more luxuries which include heat, lights and running water. However, as technology gets bigger and better there will always be risks that can lead to catastrophic outcomes. Luckily for the United States; we did not have a disastrous outcome with a nuclear power plant such as the 1986’s Chernobyl Nuclear Power plant catastrophe, making, ”the Chernobyl disaster the only level 7 incident on the International Nuclear Event Scales (INES) making it the biggest man-made disaster of all time” (List 25, 2014) . Three Mile Island power plants is located near Middletown Pennsylvania. On March 28, 1979, the plant had a partial meltdown. Even though the Three Mile Island power plant incident did not have any adverse health effects, Three Mile Island had an impact on the nuclear industry development and politically in the United States.

Salt Spring Island of British Columbia in the nineteenth century, was filled with hatred. For those who were not of White descent they would soon realize that there was a clear separation between the Whites, Blacks, and Aboriginals. This division is crucial to understand as the Whites were the settlers to this area meaning they took over the land and had a great deal of authority. They manipulated the Blacks into following their social and moral regulations, but were incapable of doing the same for the Indians. Consequently, a rivalry occurred since not all Aboriginals could accept being a means to an end for the Whites. In other words, there was a common ideology amongst the Whites that justice must be served to those Indians who decided to disregard the law.

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)

Barrier Island is a low edge of sand that is parallel to the mainland with a distance of 2 to 19 miles’ off the shoreline, 300 barrier islands border the shore of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, to Padre Island, Texas. The barrier island defends the coast from the full power of storm waves. In the central of the barrier island and the mainland is a peaceful lagoon or a bay. Mainly most of these barrier island are 0.6-3 miles wide and amid from 9-18 miles long. The highest structures example of barrier island are sand dunes with the height of 16-33 feet; however, in some places the dunes can reach the height of 100 feet. Few barrier islands are initiated as spits that were then detached from the inland by upsurge corrosion, rising of sea level resulting

Nantucket residents know the special gift they have living on the Island, even part of the year. To keep the Island economy hale and hearty, shopping local is the only answer. The good news is that Nantucket Island has plenty of local shops and merchants to enjoy.

A leisurely ride on a Washington State Ferry from Anacortes gives you a view of the island's beauty, with a choice of stops - Lopez Island, Orcas Island, Shaw Island or Friday Harbor of San Juan Island.

The Heard and McDonald Islands are located in the Southern Ocean, approximately 1,700 kilometers from the Antarctic continent and 4,100 kilometers south-west of Perth. They are the only subantarctic islands and provide the opportunity to observe ongoing geomorphic processes and glacial dynamics. The islands benefit from the complete absence of alien plants and animals, as well as human interference.

Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant consists of two nuclear reactors. The second reactor is a pressurized water (PWR) type with 2700 MW power generation capacity. It was put online a year before the accident happened on March 28, 1979. The event started when a high pressure starts to increase inside the reactor, causing a pressure relief valve to open. The valve stuck open causing loss of steam and water from the reactor primary system. The operator unaware of the stuck valve was misled by the high water level in the pressurizer shown in figure 3 and shut down the cooling water system. Consequently, the water in the reactor boiled away and reactor core overheated and partially melted. Hydrogen was produced as a result and exploded, but luckily

The Three Mile Island disaster occurred on March 28, 1979. The nuclear plant, in the small community of Middleton, PA, experienced a partial meltdown in the Unit 2 reactor. Many factors contributed to the meltdown. Human error, mechanical failure, and communication breakdowns all contributed, as well as, exacerbated the disaster. Over the course of approximately one week, many theories, projections, announcements and media speculation led to widespread public fear and mistrust. Many experts considered the disaster at Three Mile Island to be the worst disaster in privately owned nuclear energy history within the United States. Estimations of radiation leakage showed a wide range of amounts. This is still a point of contention, as no

A barren wasteland lies motionless and without life. Abandoned buildings strewn with dust and debris litter the landscape. Children’s playgrounds once strewn with laughter and smiles emits only the subtle squeak of a rusty swing floating back and forth. This land of nothingness is the result of the worst nuclear power meltdown of all time: Chernobyl. This was one of only three nuclear energy malfunctions in the last six decades. The other events are Fukushima and Three Mile Island. One might say that from these three events that Nuclear power is dangerous and should be abolished; however, consistent evidence provides us with knowledge that nuclear energy is the cleanest and most efficient form of energy around. Three Mile Island was an incident where the media took control of fairly subtle problem and turned it into mass hysteria. The media’s role in the Three Mile Island incident is alike that of Big Brother in George Orwell’s, 1984.

Nuclear power plants have many great benefits. However, there are also many costs that the general public is very concerned with. These costs include nuclear accidents that lead to catastrophic harmful affects towards the public health and the environment when not careful. This is what makes it a very controversial subject on whether a large city, such as Houston, should rely on nuclear power plants for energy. So, what is nuclear energy and how do nuclear power plants work? Nuclear energy is the product of a neutron splitting a uranium atom. When this happens it produces a very large amount of energy. Then three neutrons from splitting apart a uranium atom then split other uranium atoms and produce even more energy. This process becomes self-sustaining as more atoms are split. The energy created is used to generate steam and the steam is able to spin turbines. When these turbines spin, they can create electricity. This process is similar to the traditional processes of forming energy. However, instead of generating steam, the other processes would burn fossil fuels in order spin the turbines. The burning of fossil fuels contributes to the increase of green house gas emissions, and this can be an environmental concern. This is why nuclear energy is considered a “clean” source of energy since it does not produce any greenhouse gasses. Nuclear power plants have actually become more common because of the benefits. In fact, the US has the largest overall generation of