This research paper discusses the Three Mile Island incident to include what started it, the results in the aftermath, and how it could have been prevented. The Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) reactor, near Middletown, Pa., partially melted down on March 28, 1979. This was the most serious accident in U.S. commercial nuclear power plant operating history, although its small radioactive releases had no detectable health effects on plant workers or the public. Its aftermath brought about sweeping changes involving emergency response planning, reactor operator training, human factors engineering, radiation protection, and many other areas of nuclear power plant operations. It also caused the NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission) to tighten and heighten its regulatory oversight. All of these changes significantly enhanced U.S. reactor safety. A combination of equipment malfunctions, design-related problems and worker errors led to TMI-2's partial meltdown and very small off-site releases of radioactivity.
What Happened at Three Mile Island?
There are three primary reasons that were directly responsible for what happened at Three Mile Island. Equipment design, mechanical malfunctions, and human error were the key contributors to the Three mile Island Unit 2 reactor melt down. The accident began about 4 a.m. on Wednesday, March 28, 1979. Either a mechanical or electrical problem stopped the water pumps from cooling the reactor core. This made the reactor overheat to the point of rupturing the long tubes that hold nuclear fuel pellets.
Instantly, the pressure in the primary system (the portion of the plant that is nuclear) started to rise. As a means to manage that pressure, the pilot-operated relief valve (the top valve of the pressur...
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...to what actually happened at Three Mile Island. These organizations reported what they know to be true to the best of their accounting of the incident. With the newly implemented safety standards in place, power plant operators may not see another accident like Three Mile Island’s Unit 2 reactor due to adequate training, and regulated policies holding them to standard.
Works Cited
ND. (2014, April 25). Backgrounder on the Three Mile Island Accident. Retrieved from U.S.N.R.C: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/3mile-isle.htm
ND. (2010, August). NEI. Retrieved from Nuclear Energy Institute: http://www.nei.org/Master-Document-Folder/Backgrounders/Fact-Sheets/The-Tmi-2-Accident-Its-Impact-Its-Lessons
Keebler, J. R. (2013, March 04). kmuw. Retrieved from kmuw: http://kmuw.org/post/human-factor-how-three-mile-island-could-have-been-prevented
Three Mile Island should be shut down. The nuclear reactor was first built in 1968 but wasn't open
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge is split into three sections. In the first section, Bierce describes in detail the situation, a youn...
Jones, M., Rivers, L., Colburn, D., Dye, T., & Rogers, W. (1993, 12, 22). Documented history of the incident which occurred at rosewood, florida, in january 1923. Retrieved from http://www.displaysforschools.com/rosewoodrp.html
On March 28, 1979, at 4:00 A.M. Eastern time, the worst accident in commercial nuclear power history happened. It was a nice day in Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, and then it all happened. This accident was rated a 5 on a scale that only goes to 7. The scale is called International Nuclear Event Scale. It all started inside the secondary-system where the pilot-operated relief valve was stuck open releasing large amounts of nuclear reactor coolant. This horrific accident caused many scientists to worry about nuclear energy, as well as concerning scientists that it could be a danger to the world, so this caused many safety concerns among activists and the general public which resulted in in new regulations for the nuclear industry, and has been cited as a contributor to the decline of a new reactor construction program that was already underway in the 1970s. Even though this sounds like it should have caused many people to develop cancerous cells, epidemiological studies analyzing the rate of cancer in and around the area since the accident, determined there was a small statistically non-significant increase in the rate and thus no causal connection linking the accident with these cancers has been substantiated. After
Jones, M., rivers, L., Colburn D., Dye, T.,& Rogers, W.(1993, 12 22). Documented history of the incident which occurred at rosewood, florida, in january 1923. Retrieved from http://www.displaysforschools.com/rosewoodrp.html.
The Three Mile Island accident took place in Middletown, Pennsylvania, on March 28, 1979. During this accident even though there was no meltdown, there was some radioactive gas that was let out into the air. As a result more than 50,000 people were evacuated from their homes (Levine 60-3). The Three Mile Island incident had a major impact on public opinion, the construction of nuclear plants, and the future of nuclear power.
104 men were sent to form Jamestown in 1607. 4 months after they arrived, 70 had died. Thousands were sent to take their place over the next 3 years, but they also died. Why?
Leading the disaster, Nuclear reactors require an element cooling with a particular finished objective to uproot the created warmth delivered by radioactive rote. Despite when not delivering power, reactors still make some warmth, which must be cleared with a specific end goal to forestall harm to the reactor center. Cooling is by and large refined through fluid stream, water in Chernobyl s case. The issue at the Chernobyl plant was that taking after an emergency shutdown of all force, diesel generators were expected to run the cooling pumps. These generators took around a minute to fulfill full speed, which was respected an inadmissible long time for the reactor to be without cooling. It was recommended that the rotational power of the backing off steam
The Battle of Long Island In the history of the American Revolution, the Battle of Long Island (sometimes called the Battle of Brooklyn) in August 1776 is largely glossed over. It was, unfortunately, the first in a series of military defeats for George Washington and the Continental Army, and the eventual outcome of the war predisposes many to focus on the victories, Bunker Hill, Trenton, and Yorktown, which provide a better frame of the narrative. Even the hardships at Valley Forge serve as an indicator of the indomitable American spirit, as opposed to the disorganized chaos of American troops fleeing in the face of the British advance. However, the Battle of Long Island was not only the largest battle of the entire war but served as a crucible for Washington’s leadership, in that he oversaw a massive evacuation that saved his army from destruction, setting the stage for the inevitable victory that would occur five years later.
...being held accountable, the city officials themselves were also held accountable because of improper safety regulations. Showing that the city itself should be at fault for not enforcing safety regulations for such things as fire escapes, that were not in working order. These unprecedented circumstances just lay down the blueprint for what is now the correct way to set regulations for industrial factory conditions.
Pressure relief valves are used to safely contain pressurized gases and liquids. Throughout the years there has been an increased demand for safety in industrial and other related operating practices. These valves are one of the many devices that have been created in conjunction with standardized design and operating practices, for the provision of this very protection. In the past, vessels that now would obviously require relief valves were heated often resulting in drastic increase in pressure within the vessel. This resulted in an extremely dangerous outcome physically for all the parties involved.
...e ditching on Hudson River. The NTSB report was not used in administrative, civil and criminal court case because none of the passengers is yet to file a lawsuit against the airline. As a result, none of the parties was determined to commit a tort in a civil lawsuit. However, each passenger received compensation for their lost luggage as well as offers from AIG not to file a lawsuit against US Airways.
"An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge." Classic Reader. 2009. BlackDog Media, Web. 2 Dec 2009. .
The energy industry is beginning to change. In today’s modern world, governments across the globe are shifting their focuses from traditional sources of power, like the burning coal and oil, to the more complex and scientific nuclear power supply. This relatively new system uses powerful fuel sources and produces little to no emissions while outputting enough energy to fulfill the world’s power needs (Community Science, n.d.). But while nuclear power seems to be a perfect energy source, no power production system is without faults, and nuclear reactors are no exception, with their flaws manifesting in the form of safety. Nuclear reactors employ complex systems involving pressure and heat. If any of these systems dysfunctions, the reactor can leak or even explode releasing tons of highly radioactive elements into the environment. Anyone who works at or near a nuclear reactor is constantly in danger of being exposed to a nuclear incident similar to the ones that occurred at the Chernobyl and Fukushima Daiichi plants. These major accidents along with the unresolved problems with the design and function of nuclear reactors, as well as the economic and health issues that nuclear reactors present serve to show that nuclear energy sources are not worth the service that they provide and are too dangerous to routinely use.
This chain reaction produces massive amounts of heat. Nuclear reactors take advantage of this heat by pumping water into the reactor, which in turn produces steam. The steam then becomes pressurized through a pipeline and exits into a turbine (“How to do Nuclear”). The pressurized steam causes the turbine blades to spin, producing power which is linked to a generator for use in the main power lines. When the steam passes the turbine blades, it goes past cooled pipes and condensates (“How to do Nuclear”).