The Three Mile Island Unit 2 reactor, near Middletown, PA., partially melted down on March 28, 1979. This was the most serious accident in U.S. commercial nuclear power plant operating history, although its small radioactive releases had no detectable health effects on plant workers or the public. Its aftermath brought about sweeping changes involving emergencyContinue reading “Three Mile Island Meltdown 1979”
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Chernobyl Explosion & Release 1986
On April 26, 1986, the Number Four RBMK reactor at the nuclear power plant at Chernobyl, Ukraine, went out of control during a test at low-power, leading to an explosion and fire that demolished the reactor building and released large amounts of radiation into the atmosphere. Safety measures were ignored, the uranium fuel in theContinue reading “Chernobyl Explosion & Release 1986”
Fukushima Damage & Release 2011
On March 11, 2011, the Great East Japan Earthquake triggered an extremely severe nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, owned and operated by the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO). This devastating accident was ultimately declared a Level 7 (“Severe Accident”) by the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES). When the earthquake occurred, UnitContinue reading “Fukushima Damage & Release 2011”
