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Fwd: Three Mile Island Timeline
In a message dated 3/27/99 11:07:54 AM Eastern Standard Time, AOL News writes:
<< Three Mile Island Timeline
.c The Associated Press
By The Associated Press
Twenty years ago, America witnessed its worst nuclear accident: a partial
meltdown of a reactor core at Three Mile Island in Middletown, Pa. Here is a
chronology of key events:
September 1974: Three Mile Island Unit 1 nuclear reactor begins running.
December 1978: Unit 2 comes into operation.
March 28, 1979: A predawn breakdown in a pumping system sets off an automatic
shutdown of Unit 2. Later equipment problems and operator mistakes allow
cooling water to drain away, causing the radioactive core to overheat and
start to melt. About one-third eventually melts.
March 30, 1979: An exodus from the local community begins with Gov. Richard
Thornburgh's advice that pregnant women and young children clear away from
within five miles of the plant.
March 31, 1979: President Carter visits the plant -- the only one in U.S.
history to face an accident known as a general emergency. Regulators,
scientists and industry personnel debate potential for a hydrogen bubble to
explode and spew radioactive gases into the surroundings. But it never
happens.
April 9, 1979: The evacuation advisory is lifted.
August 1979: Cleanup of Unit 2 begins with the shipment of some low-level
radioactive waste to Richland, Wash.
July 1980: A limited amount of radioactive krypton is vented from the reactor
building.
October 1985: Workers standing over the Unit 2 reactor begin using long-
handled tools to remove fuel and core debris. Unit 1 is restarted.
April 1990: The last canister of Unit 2 uranium fuel is shipped to an Idaho
research center, accounting for more than 98 percent of the fuel. The rest
remains galvanized in the metal and concrete that surrounded the reactor core.
September 1990: Columbia University researchers report finding no excess
cancer from radiation releases forced by the accident. A National Cancer
Institute study reaches a similar conclusion.
January 1991: An evaporator installed at Unit 2 begins to clean up 2.3
million gallons of slightly radioactive water.
December 1993: Unit 2 is placed in monitored storage after its $980 million
cleanup. It is expected to remain in that state until Unit 1 closes and both
units are decommissioned.
June 1996: A federal judge dismisses all 2,100 lawsuits claiming injury from
the accident, citing slim proof.
March 1997: Plant operators fail an emergency test when they are not able to
recognize that simulated accident conditions had reached levels requiring
declaration of an emergency.
July 1998: AmerGen, a partnership of PECO Energy, of Philadelphia, and
British Energy of Edinburgh, Scotland, offers to buy Unit 1 for $100 million.
Government approval of the sale is expected in mid-1999.
April 2014: Unit 1's license is scheduled to expire.
AP-NY-03-27-99 1107EST >>
- Subject: Three Mile Island Timeline
- From: AOLNews@aol.com
- Date: Sat, 27 Mar 1999 11:07:54 EST
Three Mile Island Timeline
.c The Associated Press
By The Associated Press
Twenty years ago, America witnessed its worst nuclear accident: a partial
meltdown of a reactor core at Three Mile Island in Middletown, Pa. Here is a
chronology of key events:
September 1974: Three Mile Island Unit 1 nuclear reactor begins running.
December 1978: Unit 2 comes into operation.
March 28, 1979: A predawn breakdown in a pumping system sets off an automatic
shutdown of Unit 2. Later equipment problems and operator mistakes allow
cooling water to drain away, causing the radioactive core to overheat and
start to melt. About one-third eventually melts.
March 30, 1979: An exodus from the local community begins with Gov. Richard
Thornburgh's advice that pregnant women and young children clear away from
within five miles of the plant.
March 31, 1979: President Carter visits the plant -- the only one in U.S.
history to face an accident known as a general emergency. Regulators,
scientists and industry personnel debate potential for a hydrogen bubble to
explode and spew radioactive gases into the surroundings. But it never
happens.
April 9, 1979: The evacuation advisory is lifted.
August 1979: Cleanup of Unit 2 begins with the shipment of some low-level
radioactive waste to Richland, Wash.
July 1980: A limited amount of radioactive krypton is vented from the reactor
building.
October 1985: Workers standing over the Unit 2 reactor begin using long-
handled tools to remove fuel and core debris. Unit 1 is restarted.
April 1990: The last canister of Unit 2 uranium fuel is shipped to an Idaho
research center, accounting for more than 98 percent of the fuel. The rest
remains galvanized in the metal and concrete that surrounded the reactor core.
September 1990: Columbia University researchers report finding no excess
cancer from radiation releases forced by the accident. A National Cancer
Institute study reaches a similar conclusion.
January 1991: An evaporator installed at Unit 2 begins to clean up 2.3 million
gallons of slightly radioactive water.
December 1993: Unit 2 is placed in monitored storage after its $980 million
cleanup. It is expected to remain in that state until Unit 1 closes and both
units are decommissioned.
June 1996: A federal judge dismisses all 2,100 lawsuits claiming injury from
the accident, citing slim proof.
March 1997: Plant operators fail an emergency test when they are not able to
recognize that simulated accident conditions had reached levels requiring
declaration of an emergency.
July 1998: AmerGen, a partnership of PECO Energy, of Philadelphia, and British
Energy of Edinburgh, Scotland, offers to buy Unit 1 for $100 million.
Government approval of the sale is expected in mid-1999.
April 2014: Unit 1's license is scheduled to expire.
AP-NY-03-27-99 1107EST
Copyright 1998 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP
news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise
distributed without prior written authority of The Associated Press.
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