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The Atomic Age
A team of American scientists and reporters stood inside a bunker and watched the first atomic explosion erupt out of the desert in a blinding flash of light and form into a mushroom shaped cloud. This event lead to all other events involving nuclear energy. -
Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station Opening
Construction costed $1.86 billion
Made up of two separate units called TMI-1 and TMI-2 -
Three Mile Island Nuclear Accident
The Three Mile Island Nuclear Accident happened on March 28, 1979, and was ranked America's worst nuclear power accident. -
History
By early morning, the core had heated to over 4,000 degrees, just 1,000 degrees short of meltdown. In the meltdown scenario, the core melts, and deadly radiation drifts across the countryside, fatally sickening a potentially great number of people. -
Island Evacuated
Gov. Dick Thorn burgh advised pregnant women ans small children today to stay at least five miles away from the crippled Three Mile Island nuclear power plant as radioactivity continued to leak and another burst of contaminated steam had to be released for safety reasons. -
Facts
A bubble of highly flammable hydrogen gas was discovered within the reactor building. The bubble of gas was created two days before when exposed core materials reacted with super-heated steam. -
Cleanup
The cleanup of the damaged nuclear reactor system took nearly 12 years and costed about $973 million. The clean up began in August of 1979 and ended in 1991.
