Three Mile Island
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Class
Teacher
March 15th, 2011
The Policy Effect of Three Mile Island Though we have had worries and issues on how to handle our power situation in the future, nuclear power has always been a sparkling prospect. It has been gleaming there just waiting to be tapped. After the bombs and destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki the world started to explore other avenues to use the science and power of atoms and came to discover nuclear power. Although this technology seemed like a god sent, there are inherent problems with the use and deployment of nuclear power. These problems have the potential to cause significant loss of life. In fact they have caused the loss of life before. Due to these issues, nuclear policy has always been a hotbed of debate. In actuality only several of the hundreds of reactors in existence have had problems. The first noteworthy accident and the one that will be discussed today was the accident at the Three Mile Island complex, here in the USA. Another accident occurred several years after at the Chernobyl compound. This accident which took place in the former USSR is the worse reactor accident to date and massive casualties were incurred. In addition to these; the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, which occurred earlier this month has put several reactors there in potentially an even worse place than Chernobyl. Focusing on Three Mile Island, this almost horrific accident occurred in the late seventies and was very close to going super critical (i.e. that is melting down). This accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear complex has greatly affected the United States of America and international nuclear policy. In the USA no reactors have been built since this accident. The accident reignited people’s fears of nuclear power. Stepping back for a minute, nuclear power first started evolving in the 1950’s. While research in this area had been done well before the fifties it was all for the purpose of academic and military use. This
Class
Teacher
March 15th, 2011
The Policy Effect of Three Mile Island Though we have had worries and issues on how to handle our power situation in the future, nuclear power has always been a sparkling prospect. It has been gleaming there just waiting to be tapped. After the bombs and destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki the world started to explore other avenues to use the science and power of atoms and came to discover nuclear power. Although this technology seemed like a god sent, there are inherent problems with the use and deployment of nuclear power. These problems have the potential to cause significant loss of life. In fact they have caused the loss of life before. Due to these issues, nuclear policy has always been a hotbed of debate. In actuality only several of the hundreds of reactors in existence have had problems. The first noteworthy accident and the one that will be discussed today was the accident at the Three Mile Island complex, here in the USA. Another accident occurred several years after at the Chernobyl compound. This accident which took place in the former USSR is the worse reactor accident to date and massive casualties were incurred. In addition to these; the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, which occurred earlier this month has put several reactors there in potentially an even worse place than Chernobyl. Focusing on Three Mile Island, this almost horrific accident occurred in the late seventies and was very close to going super critical (i.e. that is melting down). This accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear complex has greatly affected the United States of America and international nuclear policy. In the USA no reactors have been built since this accident. The accident reignited people’s fears of nuclear power. Stepping back for a minute, nuclear power first started evolving in the 1950’s. While research in this area had been done well before the fifties it was all for the purpose of academic and military use. This
Cited: Boudreau, Jay E. "Three Mile Island: Aftermath and Impact." Editorial. Los Alamos National Lab Research Library. Los Alamos National Lab. Web. 2 Mar. 2011. . "Echo: The Accident at Three Mile Island." Echo - Center for History and New Media. George Manson University. Web. 15 Mar. 2011. . Grunwald, Michael. "Three Mile Island at 30: Nuclear Power 's Pitfalls - TIME." Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blogs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews - TIME.com. 27 Mar. 2007. Web. 15 Mar. 2011. . "History of Nuclear Energy." World Nuclear Association. World Nuclear Association, June-July 2010. Web. 09 Mar. 2011. . Nave, Carl R. "Three Mile Island." HyperPhysics. Georgia State University, 2005. Web. 16 Feb. 2011. . "NRC: Backgrounder on the Three Mile Island Accident." NRC: Home Page. United. Web. 18 Feb. 2011. . "Penn State Libraries | Three Mile Island 2 (TMI-2) Recovery and Decontamination Collection." Three Mile Island Database. Penn State University. Web. 15 Mar. 2011. . Stencel, Mark. "Washingtonpost.com: Three Mile Island." The Washington Post. The Washington Post. Web. 15 Mar. 2011. . Walker, J. Samuel. Three Mile Island: a Nuclear Crisis in Historical Perspective. Berkeley: University of California, 2004. Print.