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Jonathan Ernst / Reuters File
Three Mile Island's steam towers are visible for miles around the nuclear plant, which is located 12 miles south of Harrisburg, Pa.
A reactor at Three Mile Island, the site of the nation’s worst nuclear accident, shut down unexpectedly on Thursday afternoon when a coolant pump tripped and steam was released, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission told NBC News.
The system tripped when "the pump stopped operating and created a power/flow imbalance," said NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan.
The plant responded as designed and is stable with no impact on public health or safety, added NRC spokeswoman Diane Screnci.
If any radiation was in the released steam, Screnci said, it would be below detectable levels.
Exelon, the plant operator, said in a statement that "during the shutdown, steam was released into the atmosphere, creating a loud noise heard by nearby residents."
A NRC inspector based at the plant "responded to the control room immediately after the reactor trip to independently assess control room operators' response to the event and ensure safety systems were functioning as designed," Sheehan said. "He did not identify any immediate concerns with operator or equipment performance."
Plant operators were not yet sure what caused the problem.
"Once the reactor is sufficiently cooled down, plant personnel will be able to access the containment building and troubleshoot the problem," Sheehan added.
March 28, 1979: NBC's David Brinkley, Gerald Harrington, Steve Delaney and Carole Simpson report on the Three Mile Island accident.
Located about 12 miles south of Harrisburg, Pa., Three Mile Island in 1979 saw a partial meltdown of one of its nuclear reactor cores. Small amounts of radiation were released into the environment when the reactor core lost cooling water, exposing the highly radioactive fuel rods.
A presidential commission later said the accident was "the result of a series of human, institutional and mechanical failures."
Several thousand people claimed they had suffered ill health effects from radiation, but their lawsuit was rejected by a federal court in 1996 with the judge concluding they had not proved their case.
Various assessments by the government and nuclear industry have concluded no radiation-related deaths or illnesses resulted from the accident.
NBC's Anne Thompson and Tom Costello, as well as The Associated Press, contributed to this report.
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A lot of hate here for nuclear power - probably one of the best sources of future energy out there.
For anyone who thinks nuclear power is far too dangerous, please spend some time to look up the deaths attributed to coal, oil, and natural gas every year.
The one major issue for nuclear power is disposal of waste - which can be fixed via breeder reactors.
We just need more public support.
Wouldn't it be nice to replace 50-100 coal stations with a single Gen. IV reactor?
Yes it would. We will have to turn coal miners into uranium miners however. Unless we want them to become more of the Obama unemployed.
Blamo - The US presently imports a significant amount of Uranium. If we had the incentive to open mines, that opens a lot of highly skilled, high-paying positions, to say nothing of building a reactor which takes an enormous number of individuals.
To Obama's credit, he's actually stopped the moratorium on Nuclear Power Plants and has helped subsidize (Which naturally occurs with all nuclear plant productions) and push expansion.
For everyone complaining about "dangerous" Three Mile Island - You can fear-monger, but not only can we CONFIRM no deaths from the "Worst nuclear disaster in American history" but you're talking about a design more than half a century old.
Tell me how many cars you own that are used 24/7 that still work flawlessly. Or really, anything in your house. If you manage to find something - Then compare it to the complexity and efficiency of a nuclear power plant.
If we had 100 new Gen3+ plants in the United States today, we would be in a vastly better state.
http://www.the9billion.com/2011/03/24/death-rate-from-nuclear-power-vs-coal/
4,000 deaths from coal ALONE for every one caused by nuclear power.
http://www-958.ibm.com/software/data/cognos/manyeyes/visualizations/deaths-per-twh-by-energy-sources
Two unbiased sources comparing the cost in human lives.
You'll notice nuclear looks.. pretty damn amazing.
They want to build a plant here in MO. to make the next Gen.SMR's and will be revolutionary in the industry. I think it is a great way to produce electricity which by the way demand keeps going up every year.
I think that's a terrific opportunity for MO. Yeah, the plant will likely take a few years and there's a huge amount of red tape - But much cheaper electricity, many new jobs, and hopefully you guys set a great example for the rest of the United States.
Whenever you hear someone decry nuclear power - Remember to educate them, or just ask them to look around. There's so much heresay, gossip, rumors, and outright lies from the 60-80's, and Fukushima didn't help things (Look what it did to Germany!) but nuclear power has enormous promise.
If not for Fukushima (Old plant, built INEXCUSABLY on a fault line and in a location with a history of earthquakes and tidal waves, and even without many safety features for that particular system) and Chernobyl (The Russians made the DECISION to experiment, dangerously.) nuclear power would have a safety rating comparable to being struck by lightning, and dying. (Lightning strikes kill 10% of those it hits. Now imagine how many people get hit per year!)
There's great promise here - Just remember to do your research, promote the process - and if you feel so inclined, write to your representatives!
If anyone has questions and would like to educate themselves - feel free to communicate with me via Facebook.
To Patcee's comment below me:
Nuclear energy is the highest regulated power-industry in the United States. It is also, on record, as the safest main energy source in the world.
Not only would the plant need to tell us, but the government and multiple independent agencies would immediately swarm the place. To say nothing of nearby locals who decided to pick up a Geiger counter out of fear of living so close.
So while Fukushima and Chernobyl may have set a bad example, those are two plants out of HUNDREDS, and we're in a much different part of the world.
Freedom for everyone:
"If" is a big word. Gen3 and 4 facilities - Unlike even Three Mile Island (Generation I and HOW many fatalities?) have 10-30 redundant safety systems for each active part of the plant, many of which are passive and do not rely on a human operator.
For the sake of argument, if you could explain or offer support for your disillusionment, I'd be open to discuss it with you.
For everyone complaining about "dangerous" Three Mile Island - You can fear-monger, but not only can we CONFIRM no deaths from the "Worst nuclear disaster in American history" but you're talking about a design more than half a century old.
And yet there's this, according to Wikipedia:
In 1981, citizens' groups succeeded in a class action suit against TMI, winning $25 million in an
out-of-court settlement. Part of this money was used to found the TMI Public Health Fund.[79] In 1983, a federal grand jury indicted Metropolitan Edison on criminal charges for the
falsification of safety test results prior to the accident.[80] Under a plea-bargaining agreement, Met Ed pleaded guilty to one count of falsifying records and no contest to six other charges, four of which were dropped, and agreed to pay a $45,000 fine and set up a $1 million account to help with
emergency planning in the area surrounding the plant.[81]
According to Eric Epstein, chair of Three Mile Island Alert, the TMI plant operator and its
insurers paid at least $82 million in documented compensation to
residents for "loss of business revenue, evacuation expenses and health claims". Also according to
Harvey Wasserman, hundreds of out-of-court settlements have been reached with alleged victims of the fallout, with a total of $15m paid out to parents of children born with birth defects.[83]
The public would be the last to know anything.
Source? You have NO clue what you're talking about.
Nuclear power is a disaster waiting to happen. And NO supporter can say it isn't. They will go on and on about safety records, and the savings.. But they cant deny that if something catastrophic happens, its an uncontrollable disaster that could render a huge area uninhabitable. And poison thousands of people, along with any water supplys that happen to be exposed..
Nuclear power?, no thanks..
Nuclear power doesn't contribute to global warming and is the only viable energy source that doesn't produce green house gases. Moving on...
Nuclear power doesn't contribute to global warming and is the only viable energy source that doesn't produce green house gases. Moving on...
Really, James ?
Yeah - those WIND turbines really produce a LOT of green house gasses, dont they ?
Nuclear power instead produces Nuclear waste, that takes thousands of years to become inert. And theres already a shortage of places to store the crap. Another disaster waiting to happen, is those storage facilities. They are worse then the plants.
Nuclear power?, no thanks!!!
Keyword was "viable".
Wrong, there are other countries in the world that are producing the power they need without Nuclear, using other green technologies. And they dont come with the risk that goes with Nuclear power.
Other green technologies typically have a marginal impact - Are much more picky about placement, require many more rare earths (With ~90-95% coming from China) and have a much shorter lifespan.
Unless you're talking about places like Germany that subsidize green energy to an absurd amount. I'm not against say, windfarms, geothermal, or especially solar - but the technology hasn't matured enough in my opinion, and when comparing the cost required to get comparable energy from a nuclear plant, it's ridiculous.
Though if you'd like to back up the "risk" of nuclear energy compared to Oil, Natural gas, or Coal, feel free.
Show me a country Freedom that gets over 60% of its power from green sources? I'll give you a hint none. France actually gets over 70% of their total power from nuclear power plants and I yet to hear about something going wrong over there. It's the only source of energy that's cost effective and actually pretty damn safe.
#29.1
Wow James, So mining,transporting,enrichment, Guarding nuclear waste, and do so on, not take energy and hence cause , " greenhouse gases" Please tell me how does this " Miracle " take place?
The system worked perfectly but media outlets are of course fear mongering like always.
"He did not identify any immediate concerns with operator or equipment performance."
"he did not identify.." is NOT the same as "there was NO...."
We need toDEMAND that congress rescind the Price-Anderson act, that absolves nuclear operators of ANY LIABILITY above $13 billion per incident! This needs to be done here BEFORE an accident like Fukashima happens here Do you think $13 billion will fix Fukashima?
Yes because accidents like what happened at Fukashima had no control over is their fault right? You sound like one of those people that sue over anything even if its your fault. Stop being so damn paranoid about Nuclear power its safe, reliable and very cheap compared to other power sources.
I would think that America's 'worst' nuclear accident would be the one that killed people.....Anyone remember Idaho Falls?
I've read about it. 3 died, from a steam explosion from an army experimental reactor in 1961, nothing to do with radiation, just the explosion itself.
Only 3 deaths ever means nuclear has the best safety record of all forms of energy production with none coming close. If we are talking commercial generation, it's zero deaths.
Mitchell
Who wants to bet that if this happened today all these people will be multimillionaires, with the half-wits we now have as Judges?
Not one person died from radiation poisoning in that Fukushima disaster , that is hard to believe with the way news coverage was . They make it sound like northern Japan was doomed !
In other words the plant did exactly what it was supposed to do and everything is alright?
Well...THAT'S a load off. /s
I work in the nuclear industry. Why is this news? Nuclear plants shutdown automatically as needed when safety systems detect a problem. Would you have preferred the plant not shut down? This none news was reported simply because it occurred at Three Mile Island. MSNBC didn't report on all the other plants that shut down automatically. Just another example pf prejudice in reporting. If airplanes had the n umber of safety systems a nuclear plant has you'd never get the plane off the ground. Likewise, we allow toxic chemicals to be shipped all over the country with minimal safety features. Spent nuclear fuel is shipped in packages that can be hit be a train and not rupture. Is there a toxic chemical shipping package that can do that? Answer - No! Let's get real folks and stop picking on nuclear power, OR, at least hold all other dangerous industries to the same standard. Lets have a level playing field.
Just a few thoughts. The USS Enterprise CVA65 was commissioned in 1961. She has eight PWR's. I servered aboard her from 1963 to 1966. I worked in the engine rooms many times. I was never in any of the reactor compartments. I was aboard during the 1964 refueling. She is the greatest ship ever built.
I always had a radiation badge on that was checked once a month. I am still alive and well.
I do not support the use of fission reactors for power generation. It is like everything else, the course we follow is determined on who makes the most money with the least amount of input. If we would have put the money into research and develoment of Fusion power, we might have a viable fusion system to generate safe unlimited power today. It works for the Sun!!
But don't sweat a little puff of steam. Worry about the things you don't know. "The Day We All Most Lost Detroit" That was a fast breeder reactor.
Oh, No, I don't know the answer :o(
of course they are going to say it is not a danger......what else are they going to say....run for your lives.....
In other words NBC is again guilty of sensationalist journalism by using the word unexpectedly in the headline.
A NRC inspector based at the plant "responded to the control room immediately after the reactor trip to independently assess control room operators' response to the event and ensure safety systems were functioning as designed," Sheehan said. "He did not identify any immediate concerns with operator or equipment performance."
I think I heard this line of BS before.....
Radiation Exposure At Peach Bottom
Submitted by webEditor on Mon, 09/17/2012 - 23:02
Roughly 50 workers at Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station were exposed to low levels of radiation early Tuesday after a discharge of contaminated steam.
At 1 a.m. that morning, workers were loosening a two-inch vent on top of the Unit 2 reactor vessel head when a "puff" of radioactive steam escaped from a flange, said Neil Sheehan, a spokesman for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Radiation monitoring alarms sounded as workers, dressed in bright yellow radiation-protection suits, hurried to close the vent. In total, the length of the release lasted about 2 minutes.
wgal.com/news/susquehanna-valley/dauphin/Plant-official-talks-about-repair-process/-/9704162/16690950/-/10r23fwz/-/index.html
I have to emphasize this once again, there is NO such thing as a " Safe Nuclear Power " for more facts see the photo album!