There Are Concerns Three Mile Island Is Still Radioactive
This article features Government Accountability Project’s whistleblower client, Rick Parks, and was originally published here.
After HBO explored the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Chernobyl, Netflix is delving into what’s dubbed the worst nuclear incident in U.S. history in Meltdown: Three Mile Island. Filmed largely from the perspective of chief engineer and whistleblower Richard Parks, the series explores the 1979 partial meltdown of the Unit 2 reactor at the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. The site took 14 years and $1 billion to clean up, and the series alleges there’s a lot more to the story than officials ever let on.
Unit 2, or TMI-2, came online in December 1978 after running behind schedule and going over budget. The entire plant had only been online for 90 days — just 0.83% of its proposed operating life — when the accident happened due to a technical malfunction. According to the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the accident began around 4 a.m. on March 28, 1979, when a mechanical or electrical failure prevented the main water pumps from sending water to the steam generators that cooled down Unit 2’s reactor core. This caused the turbine generator to shut down and the pressure in the system to increase. A relief valve opened to deal with the pressure; it was then supposed to close after the levels dropped, but it got stuck open. The staff didn...
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