Mile Island Meltdown of 1979. Term Paper

Total Length: 2038 words ( 7 double-spaced pages)

Total Sources: 1+

Page 1 of 7

The results of the investigation provided information that allowed sweeping changes to be made regarding the methods by which power plants are run and monitored in the future.

Even given the fact that the investigation proved the maximum exposure that any one person had as a result of the meltdown was no more than one x-ray would create there were more than 2,000 law suits filed in court with claims that the exposure to radiation caused varying health issues for individuals (Three mile island (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/reaction/readings/tmi.html).

The court chose ten test cases on which to decide the outcome of all 2,000 cases. Those cases took 15 years to resolve and in 1996 the lawsuits were dismissed in favor of the defendants (Three mile island (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/reaction/readings/tmi.html).

It should be noted that the operators and emergency operating procedures (EOPs) did not recognize the accident as a classic LOCA (Loss of Coolant Accident) since they had no dependable instrumentation to indicate the loss of primary water or non-ambiguous reactor level indication (Three mile island (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Mile_Island)."

CONCLUSION

The accident at Three Mile Island which was later classified as a core meltdown quickly woke Americans up from a previously held belief that there was no danger in building nuclear power plants on U.S. soil.
President Carter and his advisors sent spokespeople to the site and he appeared there with his wife to demonstrate that the areas was indeed safe five days following the accident. People in the area were evacuated based on age and pregnancy status but were quickly allowed to return to their homes once it was found the problem was halted. Later studies discovered that the exposure to radiation for those in surrounding areas did not exceed a higher dose of radiation that getting a single x-ray causes. While the exposure was minimal, the accident itself provided a wake up call to government agencies and the public that nuclear power plants, while extremely useful in the development of power, comes with risks. Those risks were taken much more seriously following the melt down at Three Mile Island. Investigations provided the chance for sweeping changes to occur in procedure for the future building, monitoring and handling of nuclear power plant issues......

Show More ⇣


     Open the full completed essay and source list


OR

     Order a one-of-a-kind custom essay on this topic


sample essay writing service

Cite This Resource:

Latest APA Format (6th edition)

Copy Reference
"Mile Island Meltdown Of 1979 " (2006, May 21) Retrieved May 21, 2024, from
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/mile-island-meltdown-1979-70529

Latest MLA Format (8th edition)

Copy Reference
"Mile Island Meltdown Of 1979 " 21 May 2006. Web.21 May. 2024. <
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/mile-island-meltdown-1979-70529>

Latest Chicago Format (16th edition)

Copy Reference
"Mile Island Meltdown Of 1979 ", 21 May 2006, Accessed.21 May. 2024,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/mile-island-meltdown-1979-70529