Three Mile Island nuclear accident

¶ … Mile Island

Nuclear power is one of the most important discoveries made by mankind, but, in spite of the obvious benefits that it brings, it is also responsible for numerous cases of people developing cancer as a result of nuclear station accidents. There have been a great deal of incidents involving nuclear stations around the globe, and, while some have been insignificant, others have seriously affected the surrounding environment. The Three Mile Island nuclear accident in the U.S. has been the worst nuclear station accident in the history of the country. The incident has been a product of both human incompetence and system failure. The staff did not manage to detect the problem immediately, and, thus, radioactive gases have been released from the station for several hours.

Even from the constructions of the first nuclear stations, people encountered difficulties in controlling radioactivity. Across time, safety systems became more effective, but, in spite of that, the number of accidents involving radioactivity had increased due to the fact that people had been building more and more nuclear stations. People realized that nuclear stations generated much more power than any other stations to produce electricity, and, consequently, they turned to increasing the number of stations.

The Three Mile Island accident occurred on the 28 of March, 1979, at 4 am, and, it first involved a minor problem in the cooling circuit. The system had the reactor shut down automatically due to the rise of temperature because of the cooling circuit's failure. Consequent to the system's attempt to cool the reactor, a mechanical error led a pilot-operated relief valve to remain stuck. As a result, the valve permitted all of the coolant to escape the system and left the plant's operators puzzled, as they could not determine what lead to the reactor's indicators behaving strangely.

As if it had not been enough that the operators had problems finding an answer to the strange numbers shown by the indicators, the incident became even more dangerous as the workers began to consider several reasons for the crisis. In an attempt to prevent the system from being overfilled (as the indicators had been pointing out), the operators shut off the emergency core cooling pumps. It had not been until 6 am that another team of operators came and shut off coolant release with the help of a backup valve. By then, however, the large quantities of coolant released through the PORV had already overfilled the tank supposed to keep it and caused the leak of radioactive coolant through a rupture in the tank.

Radiation alarms were triggering all around the site as contaminated coolant reached detectors. The plant's manager, Gary Miller, declared a general emergency, stating that the general public should take precautions against radioactive contamination. The authorities insured the public that there had been no need for them to be alarmed, since the levels of radioactive materials released had been too little to have any effects on the surrounding environment.

People quickly became panicked due to several intervening factors and believed that the incident had been far worse in reality. Partly, the public opinion had been influenced by the release of a motion picture called The China Syndrome a couple of weeks earlier, which involved a severe accident at a nuclear plant. Moreover, certain reports made by the authorities seemed to contradict themselves, and, thus, the public felt that the government did not tell the truth.

Reports have shown that approximately 13 million curies of radioactive gases have been released during the incident. Apparently, the gases released are harmless and cannot be considered to pose any threat for the surrounding environment. In addition to the radioactive gasses, the accident also triggered the release of approximately 20 curies of iodine-131. In contrast to the radioactive gasses released, the radioisotope iodine-131 is extremely dangerous and is known to cause thyroid cancer. The Chernobyl accident in 1986 is considered to be responsible for the release of approximately 20 million curies of iodine-131 and for the contamination of several countries all around the world. There have been rumors relating to the fact that the authorities might have lied concerning the number of curies released and that it had actually been much bigger.

While the initial communications from the authorities advised people not to panic and that the situation had been under control, the later reports informed people that precautions needed to be taken. Several tens of thousands of people had been evacuated from the area within a few days and the surrounding schools had been closed. According to surveys done consequent to the event, people apparently considered that the job done by the authorities had been deficient.

According to the studies performed in order to determine the level of radiation exposure, people had not been subjected to life-threatening doses of radiation. The average dose of radiation to which people have been subjected to consequent to the TMI incident is believed to be eight millirem. A person is considered to experience a similar exposure during a normal chest X-ray.

In spite that there have been reports of people, plants, and animals behaving as if they had been subjected to large doses of radiation, none of the cases could be linked to the TMI accident. Later investigations proved that no serious damage has been done to the surrounding environment as a result of the nuclear incident.

According to the reports concerning the potential rise of people with cancer in the area, the radiation did not produce more cases of cancer. However, the later reports claimed that the cancer rate in the area had grown to disturbing proportions in the years following the accident. The 1997 report of the effects of the TMI nuclear accident "concludes that increases in lung cancer and leukemia near the Pennsylvania plant suggest a much greater release of radiation during the 1979 accident than had been believed." (Joby Warrick, 1997) It appears that the previous reports had failed in giving an accurate approximation of the effects that radioactivity has had on the surrounding environment. The number of people with either lung-cancer or leukemia had increased downwind of the plant, as people there had a greater risk of exposure to radioactivity.

There have been numerous cases in which authorities have attempted to cover up the effects of certain nuclear accidents on the environment. Time, however, brings truth forward and makes people realize the risks that an incident of such magnitude presents.

Works cited:

1. Walker J. Samuel. (2006). "Three Mile Island: A Nuclear Crisis in Historical Perspective." University of California Press.