25th anniversary of Three Mile Island

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Article

Quote:Mar. 26 - Around 4 a.m. March 28, 1979, workers in Three Mile Island's control room realized something wasn't right with Unit 2.

A signal on the control panel alerted them that the nuclear power plant had stopped feeding electricity to the grid. Eight seconds later, another signal warned that the Unit 2 reactor was down. Something was wrong.

Unbeknownst to TMI Met-Ed workers at the control room, a pressure-operated relief valve had opened and failed to close, spilling thousands of gallons of coolant from around the reactor's core. No instrument alerted them to the fact that the core was losing coolant. The core had become exposed. The reactor was well on its way to a meltdown.

Workers at the Londonderry Township plant scrambled to figure out the problem. They didn't know that Unit 2's core was losing water or that if they didn't act, they faced a possible release of radiation into the atmosphere.

Although a large-scale nuclear crisis was avoided, a partial meltdown did occur inside TMI's Unit 2 in Dauphin County.

Sunday marks the 25th anniversary of the event that changed the United States' nuclear power industry..............(more in article)

It's amazing how close were wer to having another Chernobyl

[EZ_pulid]

Well then some girl with broken English could ride to the island on her motercycle and take awesome pictures. It's a win-win situation.

[Aidden]

Technically had it been a full meltdown, Chernobyl would have been another 3 mile island..

[EZ_Random TM]

Oh yes, let's continue to sensationalize Three Mile Island.

The average dose of radiation to about 2 million people in the area was 1 millirem. To put this in context, a chest x-ray is around 6 millirem. The background radiation for the area was 100-125 millirem per year.

[EZ_Aurarier]

Call me crazy, but I dont think Three-Mile-Island has been sensationalized from the radiation output. I think it has been sensationalized because it almost blew up.

[DarkOmen42]

Or at least caught fire, nuclear reactors blowing up isn't something that would happen without a lot of help. At least not a nuclear explosion.

I think I got more radiation from the ground tester we were using to make sure the dirt was reaching adaquate compaction then I would have at Three Mile Island. Hara

[EZ_Bondori Zafiro]

Quote:Oh yes, let's continue to sensationalize Three Mile Island.

The average dose of radiation to about 2 million people in the area was 1 millirem. To put this in context, a chest x-ray is around 6 millirem. The background radiation for the area was 100-125 millirem per year.

That's because we diverted a very likely disaster. It's not like somebody pressed a button and then quickly un-pressed it realizing he had a mistake, the plant was coming close to meltdown. I think on a PBS special they said it was within 45 minutes of total meltdown--Chernobyl style.

Granted, we've come a long way in fission technology, but I don't think we should be fooling around with it until we have the technology to clean up Chernobyl.

You can put as many safety mechanisms on machinery but people will always cause human errors because people are stupid sometimes. ----------
"You there, fill it up with petroleum distillate, and re-vulcanize my tires, post-haste! Also, I'd like to send this letter to the Prussian consulate in Siam by aeromail. Am I too late for the 4:30 autogyro?" - Monty Burns

[Loreleli]

Our technology was very different than the USSR's, it would not have been the same. We also had several fail safes they do not have.

Bro (Navy) went to Nuke school in Florida back in '81. I'll ask him again, but he gave me a long list of what was diff. between our technology and theirs ( this was over 15 years ago, lol... so I forget it off the top of my gead.)

Nothing like studying with armed guards standing over you, where as you leave the classrom, all your notes are shreaded and then burned...

[EZ_joekreeper1]

Quote:the ground tester a nuclear density gauge used to test ashphalt compaction too ( yet another in the long line of Jobs ive had)

"I WANT TO FILL YOUR MOUTH WITH SPIDERS"

[Dragynphyre]

Thankfully I didn't need to have radiation treatment when my cancer was active - the only exposure I had to radiation was the diagnostic tests.

Wonder how many millirems from a Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI - note how they drop off the Nuclear part of the word when they expect people to actually GO for the tests!) test - with that, X-rays, CT Scans, and PET Scans, the operator always runs behind the shielded glass... WIMPS!

Now, I've also been shot up with radioactive gallium - the people running the scans didn't run behind protective gear there...cause it's the stuff inside ME that's lighting up when they hit me with energy, and PET scan involved getting shot up with radioactive glucose.
(Back In Black)
Delissandra Splitshadow - Marauder of Clan X
Grandmaster Poisoner (250), Master Potter (195), Grandmaster Lush (200)

Why is it that the last piece I've needed from EVERY armor set, from Ravenscale on up to Stanos' Wicked is the PANTS?
I honestly am beginning to think it's a conspiracy founded by Glip!

[Aidden]

What does your treatment have to do with Three Mile Island?

[EZ_Peebs]

Well, she didn't explode so they have a lot in common.

[EZ_Random TM]

The PBS special was wrong. A Western-style (Or post 1980 Soviet) reactor is completely incapable of melting down in the same way as Chernobyl. Reactors are also incapable of causing nuclear explosions. During the Three Mile incident, the containment building which housed the reactor prevented any release of radioactivity, DESPITE the fact that a full half of the reactor core melted. The accident was later attributed to mechanical and human error; the reactor's other protection systems functioned as designed. The emergency cooling system (which was working correctly, may I remind you) would have prevented the incident if the operators hadn't intervened. End result, even with operator error: No fatalities, negligible radiation released. Now, let us compare this to Chernobyl.

RBMK (Chernobyl) type reactors function much differently then light water (Three Mile Island) type reactors. The RBMK reactors used inflammable graphite (think charcoal briquette) which gets rather hot as the reactor runs. When the accident occured, some of this stuff was exposed to air and began to burn. The fire burned for 10 days, is responsible for most of the fatalities, and most of the radioactive material released. Note: Light water reactors don't use graphite. Water doesn't sustain fire, as you may or may not remember - it tends to wash out, and contain the more dangerous fission products (Iodine and cesium.)

RBMK reactors had a high positive void effect. This means that, basically, if a void develops inside the reactor (Steam formation when cooling water hits hot graphite, etc) the reactor power increases, making the accident more difficult to control. The shutdown rods at Chernobyl were a flawed design. The building Chernobyl was housed in was totally unsuitable for containing the radiation released. Once again, none of these things were an issue at Three Mile, nor at any currently running western reactor.

There was also the ever popular operator error. Major operator error. They had to try, and try hard, to cause a disaster on the scale they did.

Even counting the Chernobyl deaths, nuclear power is per-capita the safest and most efficient power source available to use today. (An interesting note: Your average coal-burning plant will release more radiation then your average nuclear plant will, on a year-to-year basis)

[EZ_Gyorg]

I actually was born within 3-mile-island within a year of the accident. They used to send some questionair to my mother every year or 5 years or something about me. I don't think she gets them any more though.

[Mardoc the Dwarf]

Might explain something.... =P

[EZ_Uinan]

I live just south of Three Mile Island.

The event is far from sensationalized for those that where in the area.

And on a funnier note, you can still some times see the popular local T-shirts that read, "I Survived TMI"...kinda funny at least.

[EZ_Random TM]

This is something I'm kind of curious about, Uinan - What makes you say it was far from sensationalized for people in the area?

[EZ_Andorion]

Corrent link: www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/national/8298919.htm

~Berj