![]() ![]() He helped perform calculations to assess the amount of damage to the core and the size of the hydrogen gas bubble. Chemical reactions in the reactor’s melting fuel created this build-up of hydrogen and hydrogen gas bubble. Witnessing the situation in the control room, Lowe came to the conclusion that the reactor was full of hydrogen and the core had sustained severe damage. Lowe considered calling Joe Henry, the head of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), for help, but ultimately did not because he knew “Jimmy Carter was all over Joe to get some answers” and wanted to avoid government intervention. Listening to Kudrow’s explanations, Lowe realized they needed to stabilize, not restart, the TMI-2 reactor. Remembering the urgency and chaos during the accident, Lowe recalled how George Kudrow, the technical support director, had been up for “38 hours trying to figure out what was happening at the plant.” Kudrow gave Lowe a “verbal data dump, just continuous talking. In his interview on the Voices of the Manhattan Project website, engineer William Lowe described working in the control room during the TMI accident. Photo by President's Commission on the Accident at Three Mile Island, via Wikimedia Commons President Jimmy Carter Leaving Three Mile Island. Higher radiation levels were detected in the basements of homes in the vicinity where there were high levels of naturally occurring radon in the ground. However, studies have found no evidence of adverse health and environmental consequences. The Three Mile Island accident alarmed the surrounding communities. Half of the TMI-2 reactor’s core melted down, resulting in the release of a small amount of radioactive gases and iodine into the environment. On March 28, 1979, one of the two reactors at the Three Mile Island (TMI) plant in Middletown, Pennsylvania experienced a partial meltdown. If the reactor core is fully contained, the major concern is whether there is any release of contaminated air or liquids into the environment. However, when the core of the reactor melts down it stops the reaction there is no possibility of an atomic explosion. A core meltdown is when the reactor’s core severely overheats and cannot be sufficiently cooled down. This fear is generally fueled by three high-profile nuclear accidents: Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima Daiichi.Įach of these accidents involved a partial or full core meltdown. One of the main reasons people are fearful of nuclear power is the possibility of accidents. While nuclear reactions produce huge amounts of energy and emit few greenhouse gases, nuclear power has been a source of controversy among governments, experts and the public. This steam is used to power a turbine to generate electricity. In the core of the nuclear reactor, the heat from fission or splitting of uranium atoms is used to produce steam. Following World War II, countries around the world began to develop nuclear reactors to meet civilian energy needs. ![]()
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