Submitted August 14, 2006, 3:35 PM
What do you remember about the accident at Three Mile Island? How did you hear about what happened at the plant? What was your reaction?
I remember hearing about it on both the radio and television. We were living in Fairfield County, Connecticut at the time and I was sure the prevailing winds would send a death cloud of fallout toward us.
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What did you think of the responses of the government, the industry and the press to the accident?
I was intrigued that the film, "China Syndrome," came out about the same time and, being the skeptic that I am, believed then and now that the government was ill-prepared for a nuclear disaster. We grew up in the 1950s with the old "duck and cover" idiocy and it seemed the establishment's response to TMI was the same: everything's okay, no problem, you'll be fine. Tell that to the people whose lives were ruined at Love Canal.
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What are your reflections about the Three Mile Island accident more than two decades later? If you live or lived in the area, what longterm effects did TMI have on your family and community? Did the accident affect your opinion about nuclear power and other technologies?
I find it ironic that in 1994 we moved to central Pennsylvania and for three years I worked a few days a month at the Penn State Harrisburg campus within shouting distance of TMI. I have a mental list of all the places I won't live because of potential disasters: the west coast for earthquakes, the midwest for tornadoes, the Carolina-Georgia-Florida coast for hurricanes (and now the Gulf Coast), and anywhere near a nuclear power plant for the potential radiation from a disaster. The accident only strengthened my negative opinion about nuclear power. And then there was Chernobyl.
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Do you have any further thoughts or reflections about Three Mile Island?
In these days of increasing terrorist activities, I feel it is inevitable that they will attempt to create a meltdown somewhere in the U.S. Thanks to the problems at TMI and Chernobyl, they know these nuclear power plants are vulnerable.
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In addition to saving your story to the archive, may we post it to the web? (yes/no)
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