Friday marks 46 years since the partial meltdown of a nuclear reactor at Three Mile Island.
This historic image depicted the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant near Middletown, Pennsylvania, which was the site of a March 28, 1979 power plant accident. The event is remembered as one of the worst nuclear accidents in the history of the United States.
The partial meltdown on March 28, 1979, was a result of a combination of equipment malfunctions, design-related problems and worker errors that led to the “very small off site releases of radioactivity,” Though the commission says the radioactive releases had "no detectable health effects," it sparked fear among the public that led to stricter regulations and procedures surrounding nuclear plants. This year, the anniversary comes as Constellation Energy and Microsoft prepare to restart TMI Unit 1 by 2028, calling it the Crane Clean Energy Center. Unit 1 was shut down in 2019 for economic reasons.Crane Clean Energy Center Unit 2, the reactor involved in the 1979 accident, is not part of the restart and is not owned by Constellation Energy. On Friday, Constellation said it is ahead of schedule in its plans to restart Unit 1, and workers have rigorously inspected the plan's steam generator, the main generator, rotor, turbines, feedwater heaters, and condensers. The Baltimore-based energy supplier said it plans to hire over 600 workers prior to the restart, noting it has already hired over 300 , in addition to hundreds of contractors. Constellation also said it's working to train and license reactor operators and senior reactor operators.The lessons learned from this day in 1979 allowed Constellation to operate the other TMI reactor, known as Unit 1 safely for decades. In fact, when it closed in 2019 for economic reasons it was the highest-rated plant in the country for safety and reliability. Today, we have an historic opportunity to build on the lessons from 1979 and restart that unit, investing $1.6 Billion dollars in new equipment, technology and training to launch the Crane Clean Energy Center and restoring 600 good jobs for Central Pennsylvania families. Several community members announced plans to mark the anniversary with a protest against the restart of TMI Unit 1, which is set to take place at the Capitol Friday at 10:30 a.m.
Unit 1 Constellation Energy Partial Meltdown Restart Plans Three Mile Island Radioactive Releases Crane Clean Energy Center Nuclear Reactor Newsletter Daily Local
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