Submitted March 30, 2009, 10:07 AM
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 was an engineering student at Univ. Of Md. College Park. I was amazed that our technology had failed in this way.
I thought - wow - I guess Ralph Nader / the Union of Concerned Scientists were right. These accidents can happen.
I read the school paper (cover stories for about a week) on the accident with fascination. It was very interesting item from an engineering / design and human error failure perspective.
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If you were a resident living close-by the plant, please describe your experiences. If you had preschool children or were pregnant at the time, did you follow the evacuation advisory? Did you flee the area?
N/A - being in College Park, MD we did not fear direct impacts from TMI accident.
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What did you think of the responses of the government, the industry and the press to the accident?
I thought that President and Mrs Carter did a fabulous job of reassuring the public that it was not safe by going to the site (I think it was on Sunday after the accident).
Media was rather hyped up about it - but I can only imagine what it would be like today with the internet and 24 hour news cycle (cable news shows).
Industry did a poor job - people didn't trust them. NRC Harold Denton did a good job .
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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 think it was the best thing that ever happen for the long term safety of the nuclear industry in the US.
Yes - it made me a believer that these accidents can happen.
The human error factor is hard to predict and plan for.
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Do you have any further thoughts or reflections about Three Mile Island?
We must never forget the lessons learned.
It showed the value of a good containment system (especially compared to the Chernobyl accident).
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In addition to saving your story to the archive, may we post it to the web? (yes/no)
Name
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