Three Mile Island (disambiguation)

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Three Mile Island most commonly refers to the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station in eastern Pennsylvania.

Three Mile Island may also refer to:

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Three Mile Island accident</span> 1979 nuclear accident in Pennsylvania, US

The Three Mile Island accident was a partial meltdown of the Three Mile Island, Unit 2 (TMI-2) reactor on the Susquehanna River in Londonderry Township, Pennsylvania, near the Pennsylvania capital of Harrisburg. It began at 4 a.m. on March 28, 1979, and released radioactive gases and radioactive iodine into the environment. It is the worst accident in U.S. commercial nuclear power plant history. On the seven-point International Nuclear Event Scale, it is rated Level 5 – Accident with Wider Consequences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuclear meltdown</span> Severe nuclear reactor accident that results in core damage from overheating

A nuclear meltdown is a severe nuclear reactor accident that results in core damage from overheating. The term nuclear meltdown is not officially defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency or by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission. It has been defined to mean the accidental melting of the core of a nuclear reactor, however, and is in common usage a reference to the core's either complete or partial collapse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuclear and radiation accidents and incidents</span> Severe disruptive events involving fissile or fusile materials

A nuclear and radiation accident is defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as "an event that has led to significant consequences to people, the environment or the facility. Examples include lethal effects to individuals, large radioactivity release to the environment, reactor core melt." The prime example of a "major nuclear accident" is one in which a reactor core is damaged and significant amounts of radioactive isotopes are released, such as in the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 and Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011.

Harold Michael Gray was an American writer, screenwriter, cinematographer, film producer and director.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station</span> Closed nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania, United States

Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station is a closed nuclear power plant on Three Mile Island in Londonderry Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania on Lake Frederic, a reservoir in the Susquehanna River just south of Harrisburg. It has two separate units, TMI-1 and TMI-2.

Meltdown may refer to:

Nuclear history of the United States describes the history of nuclear affairs in the United States whether civilian or military.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harold Denton</span>

Harold Ray Denton was the Director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation at the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) and is best known for his role as President Jimmy Carter's personal adviser for the Three Mile Island (TMI) accident.

<i>Normal Accidents</i> 1984 book by Charles Perrow

Normal Accidents: Living with High-Risk Technologies is a 1984 book by Yale sociologist Charles Perrow, which analyses complex systems from a sociological perspective. Perrow argues that multiple and unexpected failures are built into society's complex and tightly coupled systems, and that accidents are unavoidable and cannot be designed around.

Robert Del Tredici is a Canadian photographer, artist, and activist, who documented the impact of the 1979 Three Mile Island accident on the community. His first book of photographs and interviews, The People of Three Mile Island, was a social critique of nuclear power. His second book, At Work in the Fields of the Bomb, discussed the US nuclear weapons industry and won the 1987 Olive Branch Book Award for its contribution to world peace.

The domino effects of the 1979 Three Mile Island nuclear accident are widely agreed to be very low by scientists in the relevant fields. The American Nuclear Society concluded that average local radiation exposure was equivalent to a chest X-ray and maximum local exposure equivalent to less than a year's background radiation. The U.S. BEIR report on the Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation states that "the collective dose equivalent resulting from the radioactivity released in the Three Mile Island accident was so low that the estimated number of excess cancer cases to be expected, if any were to occur, would be negligible and undetectable." A variety of epidemiology studies have concluded that the accident has had no observable long term health effects. One dissenting study is "a re-evaluation of cancer incidence near the Three Mile Island nuclear plant" by Dr Steven Wing of the University of North Carolina. In this study, Dr Wing and his colleagues argue that earlier findings had "logical and methodological problems" and conclude that "cancer incidence, specifically lung cancer and leukemia, increased following the TMI accident in areas estimated to have been in the pathway of radioactive plumes than in other areas." Other dissenting opinions can be found in the Radiation and Public Health Project, whose leader, Joseph Mangano, has questioned the safety of nuclear power since 1985.

Three Mile Island: Thirty Minutes to Meltdown is a 1982 book by Daniel Ford. Ford presents a "meticulous post-mortem of the events that nearly led to a meltdown" at the Metropolitan Edison station near Harrisburg in March 1979. He analyses the complex of people, technology, customs and regulations involved. Ford identifies regulatory failure and industry cost-cutting as the underlying causes of the Three Mile Island accident.

Albert Bahlinger Wohlsen, Jr. was an American businessman and politician, who served as the interim Mayor of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, from 1979 to 1980. He was the mayor during the partial meltdown at the nearby Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station, which occurred only a few weeks into his term.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lists of nuclear disasters and radioactive incidents</span>

These are lists of nuclear disasters and radioactive incidents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuclear reactor accidents in the United States</span> Nuclear Reactor and Power Plant Accidents that have occurred in the past years

The United States Government Accountability Office reported more than 150 incidents from 2001 to 2006 of nuclear plants not performing within acceptable safety guidelines. According to a 2010 survey of energy accidents, there have been at least 56 accidents at nuclear reactors in the United States. The most serious of these was the Three Mile Island accident in 1979. Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Plant has been the source of two of the top five most dangerous nuclear incidents in the United States since 1979. Relatively few accidents have involved fatalities.

This is a list of notable events relating to the environment in 1979. They relate to environmental law, conservation, environmentalism and environmental issues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Accident rating of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster</span> INES rating of the Fukushima nuclear disaster

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster genshiryoku hatsudensho jiko) was a series of equipment failures, nuclear meltdowns, and releases of radioactive materials at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, following the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami on 11 March 2011. It is the largest nuclear disaster since the Chernobyl disaster of 1986.

<i>Three Mile Island</i> (video game) 1979 video game

Three Mile Island is an Apple II game written by Richard Orban and published by Muse Software in 1979. Three Mile Island: Special Edition is a 1980 update that's written in 6502 assembly language instead of Integer BASIC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuclear power in Pennsylvania</span>

Nuclear power has been widely established in Pennsylvania since the 1950s and has grown to provide almost 25% of the energy produced in PA. This is achieved through the four active reactors currently operating. There are five inactive reactors in PA, including Three Mile Island, which had a partial meltdown and caused a reevaluation of nuclear reactor safety practices.