Nuclear leak at Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania

Historical Context Note

Lucas Paul Richert (University of Saskatchewan)
Download PDF Add to Bookshelf Tweet Report an Error

On 28 March, a nuclear reactor on Three Mile Island (Middleton, PA) suffered a near ‘meltdown’. More precisely, a series of equipment malfunctions and human errors prevented coolant from reaching the core and in turn allowed partial exposure of the nuclear core. According to authorities, only a small (negligible) amount of radioactive gases was released into the atmosphere. Thus, the health of the American population was not put in significant danger. Nevertheless, the accident at Three Mile Island led to major changes in the American nuclear power industry. Seven nuclear reactors were immediately closed until a thorough review of safety protocols was undertaken. All seven reactors were subsequently reopened. A moratorium was …

144 words

Citation: Richert, Lucas Paul. "Nuclear leak at Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 October 2008 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=3691, accessed 26 November 2024.]

3691 Nuclear leak at Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania 2 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.