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The Three Mile Island nuclear complex had a major accident in 1979
Employees at the nuclear reactor at Three Mile Island were accidentally exposed to radiation last Saturday as work continued on the plant to replace the steam generators there. The nuclear reactor at Three Mile Island is located outside of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in York County. It is about 80 miles north of Baltimore, and it sits on the Susquehanna River, which empties into the Chesapeake Bay.
The radiation exposure was reported to be from pipe cutting. The Federal Government stated that the levels of exposure were minimal and that no one died or is expected to die from the incident. No environmental contamination was reported.
In 1979, a partial nuclear reactor meltdown occurred. While several million curies (a unit of radioactivity) were released, few of those were from radioactive Iodine. Radioactive Iodine is of concern because humans absorb iodine from the environment into the thyroid gland. The thyroid gland then sends the iodine in hormones to the rest of the body. Should enough radioactive Iodine be absorbed, damage to cells and organs all over the body may happen, sometimes resulting in cancer. However, the body will not absorb more iodine than needed. So, if you ingest iodine tablets (distributed as KI or Potassium Iodide) if a true nuclear accident happens, you will not absorb any released radioactive iodine.
Nuclear power plants all around the world have remarkable safety records compared to other industries. Accidents have happened, and they will probably happen again. Nuclear accidents at power plants do not happen in the form of an explosion (no mushroom cloud). Usually, accidents happen when the materials are released from and around the core (the part of the reactor with the radioactive elements used to heat water and produce steam to power steam engines). However, knowledge of what to do in the event of a nuclear accident is the best key to surviving an accident or emergency.
More information about nuclear reactor safety from the Nuclear Energy Institute.
Comments
Decent perspective here but some of your facts are a little off. Radiation is always present in a reactor building. The release was of air born contamination, or radioactive particles of dust. Nothing was "leaked" outside the reactor building and workers we exposed to about 16 mrem or radiation. This is about 1 1/2 times what you receive from an x-ray or about what you will get from a weekend at the beach. This is also a normal level of what someone will receive daily doing maintenance in the reactor building.
@Josh - Thanks for the clarification, Josh. Yes, the alarms went off because, in cutting the pipe, stuff went in the air. Yes, the amount was minimal. And, yes, there is nothing more natural than radiation. Thanks.
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