The Three Mile Island disaster occurred on March 28, 1979. The nuclear plant, in the small community of Middleton, PA, experienced a partial meltdown in the Unit 2 reactor. Many factors contributed to the meltdown. Human error, mechanical failure, and communication breakdowns all contributed, as well as, exacerbated the disaster. Over the course of approximately one week, many theories, projections, announcements and media speculation led to widespread public fear and mistrust. Many experts considered the disaster at Three Mile Island to be the worst disaster in privately owned nuclear energy history within the United States. Estimations of radiation leakage showed a wide range of amounts. This is still a point of contention, as no resolution has ever occurred.
The ecosystem in Middleton, PA is heavily dependent upon the water quality of the Susquehanna River and Swatara Creek. The Pennsylvania Department of Natural Resources indicated that one of the main concerns in these watersheds is chemical pollution from point and non-point sources. The species of primary concern include plants, animals and aquatic species. Nesting Bald Eagles, peregrine falcons and osprey, in the Susquehanna area would be benefited by the conservation of buffer areas from development and pollution sources. Pollution, including temperature change of the water source, threatens the waterpod, a native mussel. The flat stemmed spike rush, white trout lily and Virginia mallow are plant species impacted by the water quality in these sources. Maintaining and improving the water quality must be a priority for these species and the ecosystem of the area. The area is primarily agricultural in nature. Studies have indicated that after the disaster in 1979, pets, w...
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.... Updated. Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, 2005. Web. 8 May 2012. .
"Three Mile Island Accident." Three Mile Island. World Nuclear Association, Jan. 2012. Web. 02 May 2012. .
"Three Mile Island: The Inside Story." National Museum of American History. Smithsonian Institute. Web. 02 May 2012. .
Wasserman, Harvey. "Three Mile Island: Exposing the Government's Cover Up of Our Most Infamous Nuclear Accident." Alternet.org. AlterNet, 30 Mar. 2009. Web. 02 May 2012. .
Three Mile Island should be shut down. The nuclear reactor was first built in 1968 but wasn't open
Committee on Senate Energy and National Resources Subcommittee on National Parks. 3 June 2003: ESBCO. Mission Viejo Library., Mission Viejo, CA. 31 July 2005. http://web31.epnet.com/citation.
...fund Site. EPA Cooperative Agreement #V-006449-01-N. U Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 2006.
Admittedly, 2/3 of the world’s population living with water shortages is a scary enough statistic to send a shiver up the spine. Barlow doesn’t stop there, however; she goes on to say that only 2% of the U.S. rivers and wetlands remain untouched. What does that mean for the creatures that live there? Covered that too, “37% of freshwater fish are at risk of extinction, 40% of amphibians are imperiled and 67% of freshwater mussels are extinct or vulnerable to extinction”.... ...
The Americans came back to the island. They wanted to test the atomic bomb on the island. They forced the natives to move to an island south of Bikini. This did not make the natives happy, they didn't want to lose there island.
The US government hid a deadly secret in Rocky Flats. The department of Energy set up a nuclear plant for manufacture of plutonium triggers for use in nuclear weapons during the Cold War in 1950s and 1960s. For years, residents believed that the plant made industrial detergent (McGrath). During her childhood, Iversen inquired of her mother of the sole business of the Rocky Flats. Her mother said, “I think [Rocky Flats] makes cleaning supplies, scrubbing bubbles or something.” (Iversen 12). This was indeed a lie propagated among the Coloradans. Full Body Burden reveals cover-up of US government mistakes in justification of its security concerns. Establishment of the plant by the government resulted into radioactive emissions into the environment. Ef...
25.Griffin, David Ray The New Pearl Harbor Revisited: 9/11, the Cover-Up, and the Exposé 2008, Olive Branch Press
Chernobyl, one word that still strikes pain and fear in the hearts of many, even after 28 years is still causing serious damage. It was largest nuclear disaster ever, Chernobyl was “. . . about 400 times more potent than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima during World War II . . .” (Walmsley “26 years on: helping Chernobyl's children”). The disaster was not immediately seen as a large threat, and this is why so many lives were taken or destroyed.
... the residual effects of pollution left behind by both mining in the Chesapeake Bay area around rivers, such as the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania, that feed into the Chesapeake Bay. Lutz also had quoted John Dawes, now the executive director of the Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds, on the damage done to streams and to the aquatic life in the streams. Dawes told Lutz "'we're looking at 4,600 miles of dead streams in Pennsylvania'" in reference to the vitality in polluted regions. This can occur in several ways but the two generally accepted causes are the toxicity levels in the water are too high to support life and the contaminated water is slowly killing off members of the food chains for the aquatic life. In either theory, the death of fish and their food chain caused by AMD is impacting the billion dollar fishing industry that calls Chesapeake Bay home.
Gorinson, Stanley M., and Kevin P. Kane. “The Accidental Three Mile Island: The Role of
Latham, A., Wright, E., & Tsang, A. (n.d.). Pollution's Effects on the Great Lakes Ecosystem: Introduction and Background. Pollution's Effects on the Great Lakes Ecosystem: Introduction and Background. Retrieved May 28, 2014, from http://sitemaker.umich.edu/section5group1/introduction_and_background
Chernobyl was the greatest nuclear disaster of the 20th century. On April 26th, 1986, one of four nuclear reactors located in the Soviet Union melted down and contaminated a vast area of Eastern Europe. The meltdown, a result of human error, lapsed safety precautions, and lack of a containment vessel, was barely contained by dropping sand and releasing huge amounts of deadly radioactive isotopes into the atmosphere. The resulting contamination killed or injured hundreds of thousands of people and devastated the environment. The affects of this accident are still being felt today and will be felt for generations to come.
Some of the species being threatened by pollution include: dolphins, porpoises, penguins, sharks, and polar bears.
of the book. Eds. James H. Pickering and Jeffery D. Hoeper. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice, 1027-28. Mullen, Edward J. & Co.
Smith, Zachary A., and Grenetta Thomassey. Freshwater Issues: A Reference Handbook. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2002. Print