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Remembering The Three Mile Island accident of 1979

The Three Mile Island accident of 1979 was a partial core meltdown in Unit 2 of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania near Harrisburg. It was the most significant accident in the history of the American commercial nuclear power generating industry
The reactor was brought under control, although full details of the accident were not discovered until much later, following extensive investigations by the NRC. The Kemeny Commission Report concluded that "there will either be no case of cancer or the number of cases will be so small that it will never be possible to detect them. The same conclusion applies to the other possible health effects." Several epidemiological studies in the years since the accident have supported the conclusion that radiation releases from the accident had no perceptible effect on cancer incidence in residents near the plant, though these findings have been contested by one team of researchers

This is a time that I will never forget as I was a student at Redland high school almost in back yard of Three Mile Island.The school district evacuated us to a near by high school almost like in movie but surreal we could see the Containment tower emit steam of in the distance from the bus window. The days that followed where terrible as we packed clothing quickly said good by to neighbors and friends, who decide to stay and possibly die in there homes. I remember my father deciding that we where all very young and it would be best to leave Pennsylvania for how long we didn't know, so we left and drove upstate to stay with relatives we Didn't know where else to go or how long we would be gone and I know I'm my mind I thought we may never see are home again. In the end we returned home and resumed are lives.

I write this blog to make a point nuclear technology comes with a risk many times I here people say flying is statistically safer than driving a car The most recent iteration of Boeing 747, the 400 series, is listed as carrying from 416 passengers.If this plane has a fender bender or flat tire Its not just a minor inconvenience the results will be catastrophic. I know if we thought about this every day we would never get out of bed and we would be miserable.

Today at present The Three Mile Island will soon install a new steam generator that just completed a 75 mile journey.This generator will give us cheap power for the next 25 years and this begs the question cheap for who as rate caps will soon come of utilities and utility bills will go up more, in a time when Pennsylvania and the nation face the highest unemployment rate ever. There it is we excepted the risk drank the kool aid and now we have a cheap source of energy.

Posted by jmg1729 on 2009-10-02 11:57:58 | Rating: