Three Mile Island

25 years after after... TMI Unit-2 periodically releases small amounts of radiation to the Susquehanna River. It is uncertain how much uranium and other radioisotopes remain inside.

"cooling system failed at about 4:00 a.m. on March 28, 1979"


www.tmia.com/healthsafety/wing4.html
Study Suggests Three Mile Island Radiation May Have Injured People Living Near Reactor

CHAPEL HILL -- Exposure to high doses of radiation shortly after the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island may have increased cancer among Pennsylvanians downwind of the plant, scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill say.

Dr. Steven Wing, associate professor of epidemiology at the UNC-CH School of Public Health, led a study of cancer cases within 10 miles of the facility from 1975 to 1985. He and colleagues conclude that following the March 28, 1979 accident, lung cancer and leukemia rates were two to 10 times higher downwind of the Three Mile Island (TMI) reactor than upwind.

A paper Wing and colleagues wrote appears in the January issue of the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, scheduled to appear Feb. 24. They first presented their findings last July at the University of Portsmouth in Portsmouth, United Kingdom, at the International Workshop on Radiation Exposures by Nuclear Facilities.

"I would be the first to say that our study doesn't prove by itself that there were high-level radiation exposures, but it is part of a body of evidence that is consistent with high exposures," Wing said. "The cancer findings, along with studies of animals, plants and chromosomal damage in Three Mile Island area residents, all point to much higher radiation levels than were previously reported. If you say that there was no high radiation, then you are left with higher cancer rates downwind of the plume that are otherwise unexplainable."

Three Mile Island Alert
http://www.tmia.com/

1979 March -- Equipment failures and human error contribute to an accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. A series of events led to the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history.

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I remember this event... It was sometime during the afternoon (I think), I was 8ish and my mom was up on a ladder painting my bedroom... We were both listening to the radio.... When we both heard the EBS (emergency broadcast system) do its normal thing... Wasn't that big of a deal, you always heard that on the radio back then.... Well there was a small difference this time though... After the long droning beep that gets your attention they announced that "this is NOT a test, repeat this is NOT a test, please stand by for more information..." my mom froze and turned around and looked at me with a expression of disbelief.. I do remember people acting all crazy during the next few days... No one on the streets, people wouldn't even answer there doors when I knocked on them...I was living in littiz PA (going East - 20 miles away)... My father knowing a bit about the subject and with his friend working at TMI he knew that if the cloud/radiation actually was in the area... That being closed up in your house was not going to help... Houses not being totally sealed and wood and plaster not being a good shield for stopping radiation...I was allowed to play outside.... It was totally surreal... No one around... It felt like I was in a twilight zone episode..

that might explain why I am so out there.... Or am I?

my "pop" might have a better memory about this.