A dance with death- A timeline of the events and history leading to the 3 mile island accident

  • Discovery of Uranium

    Discovery of Uranium
    Uranium was discovered Martin Klaproth, and is a radioactive element
  • The first use of nuclear power

    The first use of nuclear power
    Enrico Fermi and co. made the first self sustaining nuclear chain in Chicago
  • The 3 mile island reactor stars function

    The 3 mile island reactor stars function
    The first reactor on the three mile island nuclear plant stared operation in 1974, and the second reactor was started in 1978
  • 3-mile Island incident

    3-mile Island incident
    A cooling malfunction caused a partial core meltdown in the TMI-2 reactor, It began to release Nuclear radiation before it was fixed
  • Concerns rise

    Concerns rise
    People begin to get concerned about leaking radiation from the auxiliary building, pregnant women and children within 5 miles are told to leave.
  • The Hydrogen Bubble

    The Hydrogen Bubble
    A large hydrogen bubble on the wall of the pressure vessel causes alarm, as it could cause the containment building to stop, you know, containing.
  • The concerns are popped, for now

    The concerns are popped, for now
    Early the next day, the hydrogen bubble, now smaller, was seen by experts who said it would not risk exploding or burning anything. (The image shows a small scale version of a hydrogen bubble that does explode, via an exeriment)
  • Carter takes action

    Carter takes action
    Around two weeks after the hydrogen bubble was deemed safe, Jimmy Carter hired a 12 person team of experts to see exactly what happened, and what it meant for citizens nearby
  • Safety precaustions

    Safety precaustions
    A few months later, Jimmy Carter's team decides that what is needed is training for nuclear plant workers, and better supervision on everything involved with a nuclear plant (Image shows an institution for nuclear plant education)
  • Krypton and progress

    Krypton and progress
    43,000 curies of krypton are safely vented from the facility, and the first human entry back into the buildings takes place
  • Community Action

    Community Action
    Citizens, scientists, state, and local officials all come together as an advisory panel for the decontamination of the reactor TMI-2 (The reactor that almost went boom) They held their first meeting in November of 1980 in Harrisburg (Image shows Harrisburg, PA)
  • Everyone will be ok! (Maybe)

    Everyone will be ok! (Maybe)
    A series of tests and studies was done between 1981 and 1985 (Listed as just 1981 so I can put an image) concluding that people around the plant were not exposed to enough radiation to harm them, infants within 10 miles were cleared of being in risk, and cancer mortality was not affected within 20 miles of the plant
  • Defueling process begins

    Defueling process begins
    The Entire plant starts getting fuel removed officially (The image is a tool for defueling things, mostly vehicles, but same idea-thing goes in, fuel goes out)
  • Chernobyl Reactor Meltdown

    Chernobyl Reactor Meltdown
    After a normal 20 second shutdown went wrong, an explosion destroyed the facility and left the surrounding area unlivable. The are will not be livable until the year 22000-This is what could have happened on 3 mile island
  • A nuclear plant no more

    A nuclear plant no more
    The TMI-2 reactor is completely shut down and ceases productivity forever.