Three Mile Island Accident Analysis

Almost two thirds of the 57 nuclear power plant accidents in the world have occurred in the United States. The most serious nuclear accident happened right outside Middletown, Pennsylvania on March 28, 1979. This was known as the Three Mile Island Accident. A pump inside the unit had shut down overnight and caused the reactor to lose coolant; this lead to the unit overheating. The building was melting due to the chemicals clashing together. The building had an automatic designed seal if pressure rises, but it never did in this event. During the elapse of time, radioactive gases escaped into the atmosphere. This event has impacted the United States by the radiation effects, training improvements, and economic impact. The Three Mile Island

“Nuclear workers greatly concerned with potential hazards in the work setting may move on to other employment, thus leaving behind those who have become better adapted to and/or better defended against potential hazards: detecting an impact of the accident among this remainder may be more difficult.” (“Kasl 494”). The unit melting down took a toll on the majority of the TMI workers. Seeking new jobs was on many minds because the stress of creating an improved nuclear power plant was too much. For other nuclear workers, training improvements were not a major deal because the nuclear power plant accident in the process of recovering was a necessity. The operators are trained to understand both theoretical and practical plant operations (“Three Mile Island Accident”). Drills and tests should take action to test the hypothetical accidents that could occur within the plant. Many operators take this accident as a lesson learned to increase safety and reliability. High regulations are set for the nuclear plants to have above satisfying standards. The number of nuclear events has decreased since the training improvements, but it left the United States with an economic

Building new nuclear plants were put on hold 30 years after the accident because of safety and economic concern. Today, 20% of the nation’s electricity is produced by 99 reactors (“Amadeo”). People today would not know how to function without the help of power plants. Showering, laundry, heat, cooking, transportation, and many more technological operations absolutely require the production of energy. Not only are Nuclear Power Plants useful for electricity, but they are also highly thought of to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Many electrical generation methods pollute the air by burning carbon-containing fossil fuels that create carbon dioxide. The Three Mile Island accident was not as expensive as other disasters. Hurricane Katrina was the most expensive United States disaster. It affected 19% of United States oil production and briefly increased gas prices. (“Amadeo”) Companies were allowed to finally build new nuclear power plants in 2007. It takes four years to complete the process of constructing. Japan is more acknowledged at nuclear engineering, so the United States asked to help develop the new plants. The stability of the economy is always a concern when it comes to accidents that lead to