TMI 25 Years Later: The Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant Accident and Its Impact

195 Pages·2004·1.96 MB·English

by  Bonnie A. Osif

TMI 25 Years Later

TMI 25 Years Later
The Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant
Accident and Its Impact

Bonnie A. Osif
Anthony J. Baratta
Thomas W. Conkling

The Pennsylvania State University Press
University Park, Pennsylvania
Disclaimer:
Some images in the original version of this book are not
available for inclusion in the eBook.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Osif, Bonnie A.
TMI 25 years later : the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant accident and its
impact / Bonnie A. Osif, Anthony J. Baratta, Thomas W. Conkling.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-271-02383-X (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant (Pa.)
2. Nuclear power plants—Pennsylvania—Three Mile Island—Accidents.
3. Nuclear power plants—Accidents—Social aspects—Pennsylvania—Three Mile
Island.
4. Nuclear power plants—Accidents—Health aspects—Pennsylvania—Three Mile
Island.
5. Nuclear power plants—Accidents—Economic aspects—Pennsylvania—Three
Mile Island.
I. Baratta, Anthony John, 1945–
II. Conkling, Thomas W., 1949–
III. Title.

TK1345.H37O85 2004
363.17'99'0974818—dc22
2004000490

The contents of this book reflect the views solely of the authors and are not
necessarily those of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission or of The
Pennsylvania State University.

Unless otherwise noted, all plates are from the TMI Recovery and Decontamination
Collection of the University Libraries, The Pennsylvania State University.

Copyright © 2004 The Pennsylvania State University
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
Published by The Pennsylvania State University Press,
University Park, PA 16802-1003

The Pennsylvania State University Press is a member of the Association of
American University Presses.

It is the policy of The Pennsylvania State University Press to use acid-free paper.
Publications on uncoated stock satisfy the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed
Library Material, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
Contents
Preface and Acknowledgments vi
Introduction viii

1 Nuclear Energy Basics 1
2 The Accident 21
3 The Cleanup of TMI Unit 2 33
4 Media Coverage and Public Understanding 49
5 The Effect on the Local Community 60
6 The Impact of Three Mile Island 76
7 Energy for the Future 91

Conclusion 114
Appendixes 120
Bibliography 144
Index 150

v
Preface and Acknowledgments
For more than ten years, the authors of this book have maintained a
Web site hosted by the Pennsylvania State University Libraries for the
Three Mile Island Recovery and Decontamination Collection, which
provides access to an extensive collection of reports and videotapes
concerning the accident and cleanup at Three Mile Island. The collec-
tion has hundreds of reports and thousands of videos taken during the
cleanup project at TMI Unit 2. The collection preserves this important
and unique information.
The site was developed under grants from the former operator of
TMI, General Public Utilities, and the Electric Power Research Insti-
tute, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the U.S. Depart-
ment of Energy. In addition to a searchable database, the site provides
a short online video that summarizes the accident and a link to ask
questions about the accident and its aftermath. This book is, in part, an
attempt to address the range of questions and concerns that have been
asked.
The book reviews the accident and its causes, the cleanup process
that lasted more than a decade, and the future of energy. At all times,
the writers have tried to be objective and avoid both the overdramati-
zation of the accident and the simplification of the complexities and
implications of energy choices.
A section with photographs from the collection tells the visual story
of the tremendous task facing the engineers and technicians after the
accident. A bibliography of pertinent works is included to provide
additional information.
The chapters are organized to provide basic information on nuclear
energy and reactors and to review the accident and the subsequent
cleanup project based on the reports, videos, and the insights of those
directly involved in the cleanup. Other chapters discuss energy
options, their advantages and disadvantages, health and environmental
issues, and the impact of the accident on the nuclear industry.
vi
PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS vii
We hope the reader will gain insight into the significance of the
events that caused the accident, the magnitude of the cleanup and the
innovations to accomplish it, and the impact of the accident on the
health and safety of the public and the nuclear industry. This book was
written to provide the reader with a basic understanding of nuclear
technology—its benefits, drawbacks, and challenges. We have tried to
place the accident in perspective and provide a resource to help the
general public understand an often misunderstood technology.

This book is based on the work of numerous engineers, technicians,
scientists, historians, reporters, researchers, and many others. Most of
these people are nameless, but they play an important role in the TMI
story. The residents living near TMI who experienced the accident and
its aftermath—and the hundreds of individuals who asked questions
about these events—also had a significant role in this work.
We are particularly indebted to those who have helped in the prepa-
ration of this book: Samuel Walker, Ann Jensen, and Jim Ottaviani for
their careful reviews of the manuscript and insightful suggestions;
James J. Byrne, vice president of TMI 2, for his technical assistance;
Annette D. Barnes for editorial assistance; Maureen E. Brown, Public
Affairs Director, Nuclear Management Company, for her technical and
editorial comments; and Pamela Leonardi and Donna E. Leonardi for
their useful suggestions. We would like to acknowledge the staff of the
Penn State Engineering Library for their assistance and support, Der-
rick Beckner for our maps, Heather Solimini for image enhancement,
and Tom Minsker for his patient assistance with the formatting of the
book as well as Jennifer Norton, Design and Production Manager,
Penn State Press, for her assistance and Laura Reed-Morrisson for her
editing of the book and ability to make difficult material understand-
able. A chance meeting at Mountain Home Farm with Patricia Mitchell
resulted in her encouraging us to send the proposal to the Penn State
Press. We would like to thank Peter Potter for shepherding us through
the publication process and for his belief that this story needed to be
told. Finally, we would like to thank our families for their support and
understanding during the last eighteen months.
Introduction
For most people in the quiet area surrounding Middletown, Pennsyl-
vania, March 28, 1979, dawned as an unremarkable early spring day. It
was Wednesday; the weather was unexceptional. Nothing seemed out
of the ordinary. It was a typical day in a pleasant rural and suburban
area whose only claim to fame was that it was just outside the state
capital, Harrisburg, and near the giant Hershey Chocolate Company
complex.
The headline in the local paper, the Harrisburg Patriot, warned:
“OPEC Ups Crude’s Price by 9%, Allows Surcharge.” Two additional
articles on the front page concerned this worrisome news, while others
gave some attention to the Israeli-Egyptian peace talks and several
local issues.
Those headlines did not have much of an impact on most readers.
Some might have thought, briefly, that rising oil prices would increase
their driving costs—if not the cost of heating and lighting their homes.
Perhaps the decision to build that reactor on the slim island in the Sus-
quehanna River had been correct: nuclear power might help buffer the
costs and insecurity of having so much energy dependence on those
distant, somewhat mysterious nations in the Middle East. In any case,
there was nothing atypical about the commute to work—many drove
to the state capital ten miles away—or the bus rides to school.
Radio and television mirrored the Patriot’s coverage of a normal
day. The media reported no earth-shattering news, nothing that was
going to grab the headlines. Even those reading the big city paper, the
Philadelphia Inquirer, saw an interesting but not dramatic headline. A
front-page banner announced a major baseball event: Mets pitcher
Nino Espinosa had been traded to the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange
for the power hitter Richie Hebner. While of great importance to the
baseball fans in Philadelphia and New York and good for discussion
around the water cooler, the trade’s appearance on the front page
clearly indicated what a routine news day it was.
For a few people, one early-morning occurrence was not absolutely
normal. Several neighbors on the river near the reactor had awakened
to a loud sound at 4:00 AM. They described it as the sound of a jet en-
viii
INTRODUCTION ix
gine. It was not the first time they had heard this noise, and some knew
that it was the sound of steam being vented from the plant. It might be
annoying, but it happened some days—a fact of life if you lived near
the reactor on the island.
In the Three Mile Island (TMI) Unit 2 control room, however, there
were several people who knew, as of 4:00 AM, that Wednesday would
not be a typical day. And as the dark night gave way to dawn, they
might have realized that it would never be viewed as a normal day
again. Many Pennsylvanians, and people across the United States and
around the world, would note March 28, 1979, as a pivotal day in
history. Exactly how people viewed it changed rapidly as events un-
folded. While history has mellowed the view of that day, its im-
portance and far-reaching effects have not lessened.
The first announcement of something gone amiss was reported by
Harrisburg radio station WKBO at 8:25 AM. The announcer mentioned
a problem at the reactor but explained that there was no danger to the
public. At about 9:00 AM, the Associated Press announced that the
Three Mile Island nuclear reactor in Pennsylvania had had a general
emergency, but the story made clear that no radiation had been re-
leased. With this short news report, the public saga of the most serious
reactor incident in the United States began.
Unit 2 had developed alarming problems in the quiet morning
hours. Within a short time, world attention was focused on one reactor
located on an island in a little-known river in a relatively unknown
area of the country—and on a technology that was poorly understood
by the public.
The reactor in the Susquehanna River was one of two plants at the
Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station. Two reactors with four
cooling towers had been built on an island located in a wide, slow-
moving part of the river. Unit 1 came online in September 1974 and
was down for refueling that day. Unit 2 came online in December
1978, three months before the accident. Owned by Metropolitan Edi-
son Company, Jersey Central Power and Light Company, and Penn-
sylvania Electric Company and operated by General Public Utilities
Nuclear Corporation, the reactors provided energy for northeastern
Pennsylvania and New Jersey. There had been protests against the
planning and construction of the station, but most people in central