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WWW.MY-SUBS.CO
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Based on advice
of the chairman of the NRC,
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I am advising those who may be
particularly susceptible
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to the effects of any radiation,
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that is pregnant women
and preschool-aged children
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to leave the area
within a five-mile radius
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of the Three Mile Island facility
until further notice.
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This and other contingency measures
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are based on my belief
that an excess of caution is best.
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Remain indoors.
Close all windows and doors.
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This is only being held
as a precautionary measure.
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Businesses have shut down
as owners and workers left the area.
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Schools within five miles
of the nuclear plant
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were closed indefinitely today.
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I remember it being very,
very chaotic in the classroom.
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The teachers were
convening in the hallway.
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As a six-year-old,
you're just nosy, period.
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But you could see by the faces
that it was definitely something alarming.
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I know my mother
called the school several times,
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but there was no way to get through.
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I just remember them telling us
to get back in our seats
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and trying to keep us calm,
and keep us busy,
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that we would be bussed back home.
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Looking out the window,
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all you could see
were cars lined up to get out.
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The horns were tremendous.
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It was something
where you could just hold your ears.
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I did see people
that were dressed in white suits
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walking up and down the road.
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I'm thinking,
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"Wow, this is kind of like Star Wars."
You know, stormtroopers.
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But I didn't understand
why they were there.
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"What is gonna happen?"
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Civil defense officials
throughout the adjacent four counties
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have established evacuation centers
for those wishing to leave.
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And residents within a ten-mile radius
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have been urged
to stay indoors indefinitely.
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Close all windows and doors.
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Tune to your favorite radio
or television station
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to await further instructions.
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Thornburgh emphasized
more than once
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he nor anyone else
has not yet ordered an evacuation,
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but he did admit
there's always that possibility.
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We are simply asking everybody
to be prepared to move,
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but do not move at this time.
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Nobody is in any danger at this time.
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The governor was very specific in saying,
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"This is precautionary
and precautionary only."
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But what it did cause
was what we were trying to avoid...
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panic.
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Where are you going to?
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I'm going to my mother's.
I have nowhere else to go at this point.
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I'm just gonna go, get out.
I'm not coming back.
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Luckily,
my husband was home that day.
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We had a preschool child
and I said to him,
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"We seriously need to go."
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One of the pains that I had leaving was,
"What do you take with you?"
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It was very important for me
to have our children's birth certificates
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that if, God forbid,
we were ever separated,
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I could prove they were my children.
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That is one of the things I thought about.
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And when we pulled out of that driveway,
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I looked back at all that I loved
and wondered if I would ever come back.
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Very difficult.
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What did you think
when you heard this latest news?
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Like runnin'.
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When my kiddos came home,
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I didn't wanna panic them.
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So, I said,
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"We're gonna go to Nana and Pop-pop's
for a little mini vacation."
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My goal was to get our children
away from this,
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whatever this monster was.
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Area residents aren't waiting
for an official evacuation to be called.
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Nearly half the population has left.
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So many people
left Middletown today,
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police officials have imposed
a 9:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. curfew here
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to forestall the possibility of looting.
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It is now apparent
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that the nuclear accident
that occurred on Wednesday morning
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was a lot more complicated
and a lot more serious
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than the public was first led to believe.
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As we left our home, I really had
no understanding of what was happening,
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but I knew there was something wrong.
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And thinking,
"Are we ever gonna be able to come back?"
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"Is my house still gonna be here?"
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I think about seeing
the people's faces in their vehicles.
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People were scared.
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Officials disclosed today
that radiation in the building's dome
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was measured at 30,000 rems an hour,
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Seventy-five times the lethal dose
for a human being,
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and 3,000 times the level
for a nuclear reactor in normal operation.
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The plume,
which is the radioactive cloud
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that travels with the wind.
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It was heading in the north direction,
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exactly where we were evacuating.
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What you want to do
is to try and keep this stuff off of you.
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If you would have to happen to get out
and get some on you,
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the best way to do is get in,
take your clothes off,
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wash your clothes...
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When we got to my in-laws,
they had us all...
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um, remove our clothes,
and take a shower and change our clothes.
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And I remember thinking at the time,
"I felt like a leper."
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On this incredible
third day of the accident,
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confusion, contradiction, and questions
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clouded the atmosphere
like atomic particles.
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And as we watched
Walter Cronkite on national news,
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I think most of us were shocked
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that something like this
happened to our little town.
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But not everyone was leaving.
Some said they would stay.
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We did not leave Middletown,
didn't think about leaving.
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If I was a younger man with kids,
I probably would have.
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People who had choices
to leave the area were going to leave,
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but there were many people
who did not have those options.
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There was a realization
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that the community truly
never ever would be the same again.
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Current readings are
no higher today than they were yesterday.
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We went to my grandmother's home,
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which was only
ten miles away in Harrisburg.
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I was very inquisitive,
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so I was listening to the adult
conversations and what was going on.
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The situation here has become
more and more confusing
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each day since the initial release
on Wednesday morning...
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Company officials
said the radiation leaks had been stopped.
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Nuclear regulatory officials
said the leaks were continuing.
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It was just overwhelming.
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Has the governor set up any...
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designating one person
or set up any task force
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just to oversee
all the various ramifications...
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I think he's starting to think along
those lines of setting up a task force.
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The management of information
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turned out to be one
of the great challenges of this crisis.
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There were a thousand rumors
and conflicting sources of information.
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And we had to establish a credible source
that people knew they could trust.
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So Governor Thornburgh
called the president.
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At the time,
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I was the point person
for the president on the accident.
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The governor asked President Carter for
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one person who will oversee
managing this thing on the ground
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and will be the one person
who speaks to the press.
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The president got involved
because it was a time
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when energy policy
was a constant source of anxiety.
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And there certainly was a feeling
that we needed nuclear power.
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But he was also
a nuclear engineer by training.
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He'd been part of the nuclear navy.
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Mr. Carter is no stranger
to nuclear plant accidents.
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He has described how in the early 1950s,
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as a Navy nuclear engineer trainee,
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he led a group of 22 men
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down into the core of a reactor
at Chalk River, Canada,
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where a meltdown had occurred.
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The president says he spent
one minute and 29 seconds there
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helping dismantle that reactor.
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And so he felt very comfortable
about the integrity of the technology.
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The president has dispatched
his personal representative,
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Mr. Harold Denton,
Chief Operations Officer of the NRC
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to assist me and work with our experts
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to monitor the situation
and keep the public fully informed.
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Harold Denton
was considered within the NRC
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to be one of the more
knowledgeable people on site.
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He was Jimmy Carter's personal
representative on Three Mile Island
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to assess the situation there
at the utility
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and provide him with feedback
on what was truly happening.
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We are concerned
about the status of the fuel in the core.
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There's also a bubble
in the reactor vessel that means
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that any change
in the hydraulics of the core
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have to be carefully monitored...
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Denton said to us,
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"There's a hydrogen bubble
inside the reactor
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which, if left to its own devices,
could explode."
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And for the first time
from the beginning of this,
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I will admit that I got scared.
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Because the consequences
of a hydrogen bubble,
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potentially, were disastrous.
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CBS Reports,
Danger at Three Mile Island.
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The situation inside the nuclear reactor
is stable for the moment,
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but fraught with danger.
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At the top of the reactor vessel,
a bubble has formed radioactive gas.
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A new stage
in the accident had opened up.
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A hydrogen gas bubble
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forming at the heart
of a nuclear power plant
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with unknown consequences.
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Hydrogen explodes, and therefore,
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there was the possibility of an explosion
there inside the reactor itself.
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This is what happened,
by the way, at Chernobyl.
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Hydrogen gas explosion
blew the entire roof of the reactor apart
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leading to radiation
being released into the environment.
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That accident took place in 1986,
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and for centuries parts of that area
around Chernobyl
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will be sealed off.
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The bubble that's
in the reactor vessel is mainly hydrogen.
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And therefore,
if there is a source of oxygen,
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and an ignition source, it could burn.
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When I heard
about the hydrogen bubble,
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I realized there was such a chance
that we were gonna lose everything.
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Everything that we ever worked for, any...
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Everything would be gone.
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...very current about
the problem in Three Mile Island.
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How dangerous is it?
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00:12:13,149 --> 00:12:15,109
Are we running the risk
of a China Syndrome?
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00:12:15,192 --> 00:12:18,154
Could there be a massive disaster?
Is it remote or impossible?
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00:12:18,237 --> 00:12:21,282
There's always been
the possibility of a China Syndrome.
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This has been built
into all calculations.
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00:12:23,534 --> 00:12:27,830
The catastrophes we're talking
about here in a massive meltdown
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are tens of thousands of deaths,
hundreds of thousands of cancers,
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00:12:31,917 --> 00:12:34,879
contamination of thousands
of square miles of land.
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Dr. Lapp,
what has been stated...
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I was extremely frightened
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because there was no place
in Central Pennsylvania that was safe.
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00:12:42,845 --> 00:12:47,391
The chances of us surviving
even 40 miles away
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could have been put into jeopardy.
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Everybody
was afraid of nuclear power
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by the time they heard about the hydrogen
bubble blowing up the reactor.
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The Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
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00:13:00,404 --> 00:13:05,659
the utility just blew it
on their communications.
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00:13:05,743 --> 00:13:08,287
Not only between each other,
but with the people.
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00:13:08,871 --> 00:13:11,582
They let the people live in fear
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00:13:11,665 --> 00:13:13,918
while they tried to decide what to do.
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00:13:14,877 --> 00:13:18,714
So we are faced
with the remote, but very real possibility
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00:13:18,798 --> 00:13:22,927
of a nuclear meltdown at
the Three Mile Island atomic power plant.
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I've got the staff
continuing to look at the question
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00:13:34,438 --> 00:13:38,192
of how much time to detonation
and whether or not the temperatures...
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00:13:38,275 --> 00:13:42,321
That Saturday was a very,
very unnerving day.
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Scientists concerned
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00:13:44,073 --> 00:13:46,700
that the 600-degree temperature
in the reactor fuel
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was hot enough
to detonate the gaseous bubble.
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We had a problem
which was almost pure mathematics,
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00:13:52,873 --> 00:13:58,128
and we had to wait while
the experts were trying to figure out
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whether we had
a seriously dangerous bubble.
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00:14:02,550 --> 00:14:04,969
The 1,000 nuclear scientists
and technicians
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00:14:05,052 --> 00:14:07,596
who are gathered here
in an effort to save the reactor
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00:14:07,680 --> 00:14:09,682
still have a number
of problems to resolve.
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00:14:11,058 --> 00:14:13,519
Engineers were being called in
from around the world.
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00:14:13,602 --> 00:14:16,522
"How dangerous is this?
How do you defuse it?"
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00:14:16,605 --> 00:14:19,692
The future of nuclear energy
was in the balance.
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00:14:20,526 --> 00:14:23,237
One government study
estimated in such an event
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00:14:23,320 --> 00:14:26,866
forty-five thousand would be killed,
a quarter of a million injured.
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00:14:26,949 --> 00:14:30,995
It is that possibility that
has authorities considering evacuation.
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00:14:31,579 --> 00:14:33,205
And at the highest levels,
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00:14:33,289 --> 00:14:37,751
there were discussions
about evacuating millions of people.
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00:14:37,835 --> 00:14:40,963
We were living the worst-case scenario.
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00:14:41,547 --> 00:14:43,549
Officials at the company
and government
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00:14:43,632 --> 00:14:46,594
say the situation is stable,
but disagree on vital facts.
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00:14:46,677 --> 00:14:49,805
Experts are unable
to draw meaningful conclusions
243
00:14:49,889 --> 00:14:51,974
about the size of the hydrogen bubble.
244
00:14:52,641 --> 00:14:57,104
I knew there was
differences of opinion in part of the NRC
245
00:14:57,187 --> 00:14:59,481
of what in Heaven's name is going on.
246
00:15:00,524 --> 00:15:03,193
"It could explode,"
and, "Should people move?"
247
00:15:03,277 --> 00:15:06,405
I got calls from relatives
that lived in Philadelphia,
248
00:15:06,488 --> 00:15:09,825
"We're downwind, should we go
to our cousin's in New York?"
249
00:15:09,909 --> 00:15:12,328
I said, "Slow down, slow down." You know?
250
00:15:13,037 --> 00:15:15,289
There is no way
for nuclear scientists
251
00:15:15,372 --> 00:15:19,209
to eliminate the dangerous
hydrogen gas bubble inside the reactor
252
00:15:19,293 --> 00:15:22,463
without running at least
some risk of a core meltdown.
253
00:15:23,839 --> 00:15:26,342
We were doing analysis,
working on the issue,
254
00:15:26,425 --> 00:15:29,720
trying to put it into relative risk terms.
255
00:15:29,803 --> 00:15:33,182
But it becomes a hugely emotional risk,
256
00:15:33,265 --> 00:15:37,645
and things can just go crazy,
especially in the public media.
257
00:15:37,728 --> 00:15:39,271
Under present conditions,
258
00:15:39,355 --> 00:15:41,982
oxygen may slowly
be entering the hydrogen bubble.
259
00:15:42,066 --> 00:15:45,819
The more oxygen, the more danger
of a hydrogen explosion in the reactor.
260
00:15:45,903 --> 00:15:49,698
Two dangers persist.
One from that trapped gas bubble.
261
00:15:49,782 --> 00:15:53,535
The other from the build-up of radioactive
material in the containment room.
262
00:15:54,244 --> 00:15:56,705
Saturday night, in an AP bulletin
263
00:15:56,789 --> 00:15:59,375
that ran right across
the bottoms of the TV screens,
264
00:15:59,458 --> 00:16:01,919
"Hydrogen bubble in reactor
265
00:16:02,002 --> 00:16:04,713
is showing signs of becoming
potentially explosive."
266
00:16:04,797 --> 00:16:07,216
...showing signs of becoming
potentially explosive.
267
00:16:07,299 --> 00:16:09,677
The chairman of the NRC said,
268
00:16:09,760 --> 00:16:13,097
"It may be prudent
to evacuate people from the area."
269
00:16:13,180 --> 00:16:18,185
At that moment, 25 reporters
burst through the doors of my office.
270
00:16:18,268 --> 00:16:21,313
"Should we leave?"
They were shouting at me.
271
00:16:21,397 --> 00:16:24,316
One of them was even crying.
272
00:16:24,984 --> 00:16:26,944
Palpable panic set in.
273
00:16:27,027 --> 00:16:30,823
As anxiety builds,
many people have relocated to shelters,
274
00:16:30,906 --> 00:16:34,410
including this sports arena,
11 miles away from the plant.
275
00:16:40,082 --> 00:16:43,293
I couldn't make sense of it but ask,
"What's going on?"
276
00:16:43,377 --> 00:16:45,170
"Are we gonna die?"
277
00:16:45,254 --> 00:16:50,009
It was like living on the edge,
like just holding on, white-knuckled.
278
00:16:50,092 --> 00:16:54,513
What happens to this plant?
Does it blow up like nuclear bombs?
279
00:16:56,098 --> 00:16:58,767
What does a meltdown really mean?
280
00:17:00,436 --> 00:17:04,314
The fear became greater
because it was the fear of the unknown.
281
00:17:04,398 --> 00:17:05,899
It may not show up now,
282
00:17:05,983 --> 00:17:10,529
but what's 25 years from now
if there was an exposure?
283
00:17:10,612 --> 00:17:12,197
I had a wife who was pregnant.
284
00:17:12,281 --> 00:17:17,119
And I went to the evacuation center
with the governor and my family.
285
00:17:17,202 --> 00:17:21,081
We wanted to stop rumors
that were upsetting people,
286
00:17:21,165 --> 00:17:24,710
that only generated greater fear.
287
00:17:24,793 --> 00:17:27,171
Can you explain
what dangers there are left?
288
00:17:27,254 --> 00:17:28,422
How dangerous are things?
289
00:17:28,505 --> 00:17:32,092
Only if the efforts that are now
underway prove unsuccessful
290
00:17:32,176 --> 00:17:34,219
will we have to turn to another option.
291
00:17:35,888 --> 00:17:38,640
And with the growing concern
about the hydrogen bubble,
292
00:17:38,724 --> 00:17:41,226
Governor Thornburgh said to the president,
293
00:17:41,310 --> 00:17:45,773
"I would like the Federal Government's
recommendation,"
294
00:17:45,856 --> 00:17:47,107
as to whether or not
295
00:17:47,191 --> 00:17:50,861
he should go beyond the five-mile
precautionary evacuation
296
00:17:50,944 --> 00:17:55,115
and order a broad scale
360-degree evacuation.
297
00:17:56,700 --> 00:18:01,080
But the concern was the lasting impact
on the nuclear industry.
298
00:18:02,122 --> 00:18:04,625
This is a very tough call to make
299
00:18:04,708 --> 00:18:08,545
when you don't have
really clear knowledge to go on.
300
00:18:09,338 --> 00:18:14,259
So the president decided late on Saturday,
301
00:18:14,343 --> 00:18:17,763
the most important thing he could do
would be to go visit the reactor
302
00:18:17,846 --> 00:18:19,640
as a way to quiet public fears.
303
00:18:32,778 --> 00:18:34,923
We are going
to pray to God to take care of us
304
00:18:34,947 --> 00:18:37,741
in the midst of all this confusion
305
00:18:37,825 --> 00:18:40,869
and uncertainty about these times.
306
00:18:41,787 --> 00:18:42,913
We trust the Lord
307
00:18:42,996 --> 00:18:46,500
that nothing further is going to happen
other than what has.
308
00:18:49,211 --> 00:18:51,296
When President Carter got there,
309
00:18:51,380 --> 00:18:55,217
everything was still pretty much
in a state of chaos.
310
00:18:55,717 --> 00:18:58,929
There was a potential that
the hydrogen bubble was gonna blow up.
311
00:18:59,763 --> 00:19:03,058
But with the president showing up
at Three Mile Island,
312
00:19:03,142 --> 00:19:05,936
that reinforced
to the nuclear industry that,
313
00:19:06,019 --> 00:19:08,772
"Hey, you know, guys,
I'm kinda on your side here,"
314
00:19:08,856 --> 00:19:11,316
and showing everybody,
"Nuclear is not bad."
315
00:19:13,735 --> 00:19:17,990
And the main job of President Carter
coming to Three Mile Island
316
00:19:18,073 --> 00:19:21,660
was to reassure the American public
they had nothing to fear.
317
00:19:22,327 --> 00:19:24,830
My primary concern
in coming here this afternoon
318
00:19:24,913 --> 00:19:29,042
has been to learn as much
as I possibly can as president
319
00:19:29,626 --> 00:19:33,338
about the problems at
the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant.
320
00:19:34,256 --> 00:19:36,800
And to assure the people of this region
321
00:19:37,634 --> 00:19:40,470
that everything possible is being done
322
00:19:40,554 --> 00:19:43,891
and will be done
to cope with these problems.
323
00:19:44,683 --> 00:19:48,020
President Carter was
making an effort to explain,
324
00:19:48,103 --> 00:19:50,689
"We know what we're doing.
We're gonna take care of you."
325
00:19:50,772 --> 00:19:52,524
"You're in no danger."
326
00:19:53,525 --> 00:19:55,652
After the president
left the island,
327
00:19:55,736 --> 00:19:59,364
Harold Denton's staff
went through all of its calculations.
328
00:19:59,448 --> 00:20:02,284
They were going back and forth,
329
00:20:02,367 --> 00:20:07,039
but it wasn't until they found a mistake
330
00:20:07,122 --> 00:20:10,626
that finally confirmed
that the hydrogen bubble
331
00:20:10,709 --> 00:20:13,629
did not present a serious threat.
332
00:20:13,712 --> 00:20:16,107
Is there danger
to people in the surrounding area?
333
00:20:16,131 --> 00:20:18,467
I don't consider
there is any imminent hazard today.
334
00:20:18,550 --> 00:20:20,052
The situation has stabilized.
335
00:20:20,135 --> 00:20:22,638
But it's very important
that the way they bring the core
336
00:20:22,721 --> 00:20:25,057
to a cold shutdown condition
with this bubble...
337
00:20:25,140 --> 00:20:26,308
I was so relieved.
338
00:20:26,391 --> 00:20:30,062
We had gotten through it
without the loss of life.
339
00:20:30,145 --> 00:20:33,941
And to me,
the immediate crisis phase was over.
340
00:20:38,654 --> 00:20:43,450
This nuclear accident
obviously causes all of us concern.
341
00:20:43,951 --> 00:20:48,247
You deserve a full accounting,
and you will get it.
342
00:20:49,373 --> 00:20:50,749
I've directed the establishment
343
00:20:50,832 --> 00:20:54,753
of an independent
presidential commission of experts
344
00:20:54,836 --> 00:20:59,466
to investigate the causes of this accident
and to make recommendations
345
00:20:59,549 --> 00:21:03,804
on how we can improve
the safety of nuclear power plants.
346
00:21:13,230 --> 00:21:16,108
It was a week ago today
that the accident began
347
00:21:16,191 --> 00:21:19,611
at the Three Mile Island
atomic power plant in Pennsylvania.
348
00:21:19,695 --> 00:21:21,280
And today, that damaged plant
349
00:21:21,363 --> 00:21:24,908
still is venting some radioactivity
into the surrounding air.
350
00:21:26,034 --> 00:21:28,680
Government scientists
spent the morning in helicopters,
351
00:21:28,704 --> 00:21:31,665
measuring radiation
still leaking from the plant.
352
00:21:31,748 --> 00:21:35,794
They had to get the hydrogen
out of the reactor.
353
00:21:36,628 --> 00:21:39,047
So what they came up with was a method
354
00:21:39,131 --> 00:21:42,884
that they could vent off noble gases
and anything else.
355
00:21:42,968 --> 00:21:44,553
That would lower pressure.
356
00:21:44,636 --> 00:21:46,555
Expected release
of radiation today
357
00:21:46,638 --> 00:21:50,726
from Three Mile Island nuclear power plant
has led to a series of consequences.
358
00:21:50,809 --> 00:21:53,645
But every time
they opened that vent valve,
359
00:21:53,729 --> 00:21:58,692
there was an uncontrolled release
of radiation to the environment.
360
00:21:58,775 --> 00:22:01,153
They had no choice.
361
00:22:01,236 --> 00:22:02,988
They had to do it.
362
00:22:05,032 --> 00:22:08,618
What were my children and myself
exposed to in those three days?
363
00:22:10,579 --> 00:22:15,959
And the irresponsibility of Met-Ed,
and the irresponsibility of NRC,
364
00:22:16,043 --> 00:22:17,878
and how could this ever happen?
365
00:22:19,171 --> 00:22:20,297
And, uh...
366
00:22:21,256 --> 00:22:23,967
I just hope
that we do not become a statistic
367
00:22:24,051 --> 00:22:27,971
ten, 20, 30 years from now,
but I know we're gonna be a statistic.
368
00:22:28,055 --> 00:22:30,307
Have you lived through a cancer death?
369
00:22:30,390 --> 00:22:31,391
I have.
370
00:22:31,475 --> 00:22:35,645
If that one is my son,
or my wife or me, I think it's wrong.
371
00:22:38,023 --> 00:22:43,028
We spent a lot of time
trying to determine how much radiation
372
00:22:43,111 --> 00:22:47,324
actually was continuing
to release into the atmosphere.
373
00:22:47,407 --> 00:22:50,911
In a van nearby,
a government scientist used a computer
374
00:22:50,994 --> 00:22:53,997
to analyze air, water,
and vegetation samples.
375
00:22:54,831 --> 00:22:57,751
But the level,
they were telling us, was not significant
376
00:22:57,834 --> 00:23:00,295
when it comes to the health
of people in the area.
377
00:23:00,379 --> 00:23:02,381
The entire
federal medical establishment
378
00:23:02,464 --> 00:23:05,300
said people in the Harrisburg area
have nothing to worry about.
379
00:23:05,384 --> 00:23:08,220
We would expect to find
no additional cancer deaths
380
00:23:08,303 --> 00:23:12,307
in this population as the result
of radiation exposure today.
381
00:23:12,391 --> 00:23:15,477
A nuclear specialist
had been quoted as observing
382
00:23:15,560 --> 00:23:19,856
that alarming reports had probably
caused more psychological harm
383
00:23:19,940 --> 00:23:23,318
than did the radiation
during these seven days of tension.
384
00:23:23,944 --> 00:23:28,156
The fact is that at no time
have a variety of test measurements
385
00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:32,869
shown levels of contamination that were
dangerous to normally healthy people.
386
00:23:34,246 --> 00:23:37,833
This industry
was in a rush to exonerate itself
387
00:23:37,916 --> 00:23:39,835
immediately after the accident.
388
00:23:39,918 --> 00:23:44,589
And our best measurement tool,
unfortunately, are human beings.
389
00:23:45,382 --> 00:23:47,134
If you don't look, you don't find.
390
00:23:47,217 --> 00:23:48,677
And a number of the monitors
391
00:23:48,760 --> 00:23:52,264
were not capable of picking up
the amount of radiation that escaped.
392
00:23:53,432 --> 00:23:56,351
Every dose of radiation is an overdose.
393
00:23:56,935 --> 00:23:59,396
A little of that radiation
does a little harm,
394
00:23:59,479 --> 00:24:01,022
more of it does more harm.
395
00:24:01,857 --> 00:24:05,360
Nobody really knows
how much radiation came out
396
00:24:05,444 --> 00:24:07,446
because we don't have the numbers.
397
00:24:08,113 --> 00:24:12,576
The estimates of radiation damage
at Three Mile Island
398
00:24:12,659 --> 00:24:15,412
neglect all sorts
of different kinds of variables.
399
00:24:16,371 --> 00:24:21,209
Anyone who says definitively how much
radiation came out of that accident
400
00:24:21,293 --> 00:24:23,837
is either lying or a fool.
401
00:24:24,838 --> 00:24:27,257
Small traces
of radioactive iodine
402
00:24:27,340 --> 00:24:29,593
have turned up in milk samples
from the area.
403
00:24:29,676 --> 00:24:32,429
Hershey has not used any new milk
since the accident
404
00:24:32,512 --> 00:24:34,848
and is testing its products
for radioactivity.
405
00:24:34,931 --> 00:24:37,017
Areas where the plant dumped waste water
406
00:24:37,100 --> 00:24:40,395
are also testing positive
for radioactive iodine.
407
00:24:40,479 --> 00:24:42,898
After the evacuation
when we came back,
408
00:24:42,981 --> 00:24:44,691
I wanted to go to the boat ramp.
409
00:24:44,774 --> 00:24:49,446
That used to be one of my fun places to go
where you take rocks and skip 'em.
410
00:24:51,531 --> 00:24:56,661
But what I remember seeing were a lot...
a lot of dead fish.
411
00:24:57,871 --> 00:25:00,665
And it was up and down the river banks.
412
00:25:01,791 --> 00:25:05,545
I remember thinking,
"There was something released in there
413
00:25:06,087 --> 00:25:10,509
that was more powerful
than what they let on."
414
00:25:13,386 --> 00:25:18,225
People were still kind of leery
of what happened.
415
00:25:19,559 --> 00:25:22,330
For the first time in ten days,
the Governor of Pennsylvania
416
00:25:22,354 --> 00:25:25,315
lifted all of his orders
regarding the power plant accident.
417
00:25:25,398 --> 00:25:27,108
This allowed the schools to reopen
418
00:25:27,192 --> 00:25:31,112
and pregnant women to return to their
homes in a five-mile radius of the plant.
419
00:25:31,196 --> 00:25:33,573
It looks normal, seems normal,
420
00:25:34,282 --> 00:25:39,955
but we came back,
and everything we had was still in limbo.
421
00:25:40,997 --> 00:25:43,416
I was down
around the plant and, uh...
422
00:25:43,500 --> 00:25:46,920
on certain days, you could taste
a metallic taste in your mouth.
423
00:25:47,796 --> 00:25:50,233
Those few days we spent
across from Three Mile Island,
424
00:25:50,257 --> 00:25:51,758
we did get sore throats.
425
00:25:51,841 --> 00:25:54,803
And everybody around the area
had had a sore throat.
426
00:25:54,886 --> 00:25:57,305
My son, he said,
"Mom, I threw up."
427
00:25:57,931 --> 00:26:00,642
Just this unbelievable
green-colored mucus.
428
00:26:00,725 --> 00:26:02,852
And it really frightened me, and, um...
429
00:26:02,936 --> 00:26:06,231
I called our pediatrician immediately,
and he said to me,
430
00:26:06,314 --> 00:26:08,400
"Joyce, I really don't know."
431
00:26:08,483 --> 00:26:10,986
A girl who was in high school at the time,
432
00:26:11,069 --> 00:26:15,657
she had been outdoors
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday,
433
00:26:15,740 --> 00:26:19,494
riding around all day
on a bike in Middletown.
434
00:26:19,578 --> 00:26:21,788
Her skin broke out with lesions.
435
00:26:22,664 --> 00:26:25,792
When you dig deeper
and talk to people in the community,
436
00:26:25,875 --> 00:26:29,921
they had metallic taste, eye irritation,
diarrhea, projectile vomiting.
437
00:26:30,005 --> 00:26:33,425
All the experiences you would have
with being exposed to radiation.
438
00:26:34,342 --> 00:26:38,179
And radiation has long-term,
adverse health effects
439
00:26:38,263 --> 00:26:39,931
that could cause cancer.
440
00:26:40,682 --> 00:26:42,851
Middletown's 11,000 residents
441
00:26:42,934 --> 00:26:46,271
have serious concerns
about their health and safety.
442
00:26:46,354 --> 00:26:49,983
Prior to the accident,
I was in my own little world.
443
00:26:50,609 --> 00:26:55,572
No thought about radiation,
or the dangers, or anything.
444
00:26:55,655 --> 00:26:56,990
Nothing.
445
00:26:57,073 --> 00:27:00,744
Pick this flyer up on low-level radiation.
446
00:27:00,827 --> 00:27:03,079
But when something like that
happens to you,
447
00:27:03,163 --> 00:27:04,789
that you can lose everything...
448
00:27:04,873 --> 00:27:07,876
Your children's lives were on the line.
449
00:27:07,959 --> 00:27:12,505
I knew I had to stop living in la-la land,
450
00:27:12,589 --> 00:27:16,468
and it was time to educate myself
and see what actually happened.
451
00:27:19,763 --> 00:27:22,182
For Harrisburg,
it was a large gathering
452
00:27:22,265 --> 00:27:23,683
on the front steps of the Capitol.
453
00:27:23,767 --> 00:27:26,144
They said it was time
to shut down for good
454
00:27:26,227 --> 00:27:28,313
the crippled Three Mile Island plant.
455
00:27:28,396 --> 00:27:30,732
People were beginning to say,
"No nuclear power,"
456
00:27:30,815 --> 00:27:33,360
which was something
you were never gonna hear of
457
00:27:33,443 --> 00:27:35,695
under normal circumstances
in our community.
458
00:27:36,905 --> 00:27:40,742
For a community like ours,
that's probably part of the problem.
459
00:27:40,825 --> 00:27:44,287
Nobody really questioned nuclear
when it came to the community.
460
00:27:44,371 --> 00:27:48,500
Three Mile Island Alert
planned this rally today.
461
00:27:48,583 --> 00:27:52,796
Three Mile Island Alert
was organized in 1977
462
00:27:52,879 --> 00:27:57,425
out of concerns about nuclear power,
and we were on the margins.
463
00:27:57,509 --> 00:28:00,845
But there's nothing like an accident,
and a meltdown,
464
00:28:00,929 --> 00:28:04,557
to turn you from a pariah into a messiah.
465
00:28:04,641 --> 00:28:07,602
There was a time when
I would believe the government officials.
466
00:28:07,686 --> 00:28:10,814
But now I don't wanna
even be asked to believe.
467
00:28:10,897 --> 00:28:12,357
Right here is why we're here.
468
00:28:13,858 --> 00:28:16,778
I decided to start to go
to community meetings.
469
00:28:17,362 --> 00:28:19,989
And the NRC was going to be down there.
470
00:28:20,949 --> 00:28:25,537
They started out by telling us,
"The radiation that your children got
471
00:28:25,620 --> 00:28:29,165
was no more than
if you had smoked a cigarette
472
00:28:29,249 --> 00:28:31,167
or had drunk a glass of wine."
473
00:28:31,251 --> 00:28:32,627
In the state of Pennsylvania,
474
00:28:32,711 --> 00:28:35,171
you can't give my children
wine and cigarettes.
475
00:28:35,255 --> 00:28:38,717
Why are you allowed to give me
radiation that's equated to that?
476
00:28:38,800 --> 00:28:42,345
More than 300 residents
confronted the city council.
477
00:28:42,429 --> 00:28:45,140
We're gonna take
all these things under advisement.
478
00:28:45,223 --> 00:28:49,185
But there was a point in going
to the different meetings in the township
479
00:28:49,269 --> 00:28:52,439
where I realized
when one question was asked,
480
00:28:53,231 --> 00:28:55,567
the NRC answered,
481
00:28:55,650 --> 00:28:58,528
and then at another meeting,
the same question was asked,
482
00:28:58,611 --> 00:29:01,281
and it was a completely different answer.
483
00:29:01,364 --> 00:29:05,034
Officials insisted that
the residents have nothing to worry about.
484
00:29:05,118 --> 00:29:08,830
And I thought,
"They're either lying to us,
485
00:29:08,913 --> 00:29:12,459
or they don't know what they're doing."
486
00:29:12,542 --> 00:29:14,262
Fear of what
could happen spawned
487
00:29:14,335 --> 00:29:16,629
one of the strongest
anti-nuke movements in the country.
488
00:29:16,713 --> 00:29:19,132
No nuke! No nuke!
489
00:29:19,215 --> 00:29:21,468
The real message
of The China Syndrome
490
00:29:21,551 --> 00:29:25,138
is that if we continue
to place our health and safety
491
00:29:25,221 --> 00:29:31,269
in the hands of utility executives
whose main goal is to maximize profits,
492
00:29:31,352 --> 00:29:33,855
then we will see more Harrisburgs,
493
00:29:33,938 --> 00:29:36,900
and we will see an increase
in the cancer epidemic
494
00:29:36,983 --> 00:29:39,110
that is already
running rampant in this country.
495
00:29:40,028 --> 00:29:44,699
I remember high school in '65.
Vietnam War in full swing.
496
00:29:44,783 --> 00:29:47,327
I was so against protesters.
497
00:29:47,952 --> 00:29:52,832
People marching down Pennsylvania Avenue
questioning our government.
498
00:29:52,916 --> 00:29:54,334
"How dare they?"
499
00:29:56,920 --> 00:30:00,423
The rose-colored glasses
were ripped off my face.
500
00:30:00,507 --> 00:30:02,592
I mean, it changed me.
501
00:30:03,718 --> 00:30:05,720
I went from housewife to activist.
502
00:30:05,804 --> 00:30:09,224
And I marched down the same streets
in Pennsylvania Avenue,
503
00:30:09,933 --> 00:30:12,894
fighting what Three Mile Island did to us.
504
00:30:14,270 --> 00:30:19,025
What we're doing here today is
more important than dealing with racism,
505
00:30:19,108 --> 00:30:22,362
than dealing with sexism,
than dealing with hunger,
506
00:30:22,445 --> 00:30:24,405
'cause I can feel hunger!
507
00:30:24,489 --> 00:30:28,201
I can see war! I can feel racism!
508
00:30:28,284 --> 00:30:33,122
I cannot see radiation!
I cannot smell radiation!
509
00:30:33,206 --> 00:30:36,459
I look around one day, and I am damned!
510
00:30:40,129 --> 00:30:42,799
The accident
at the Three Mile Island plant
511
00:30:42,882 --> 00:30:46,970
has instantly intensified the debate
over the safety of nuclear power,
512
00:30:47,053 --> 00:30:50,849
and this could call the whole future
of the nuclear industry into question.
513
00:31:04,696 --> 00:31:07,907
The president's commission
on the Three Mile Island nuclear plant
514
00:31:07,991 --> 00:31:09,868
presented its final report today.
515
00:31:09,951 --> 00:31:12,453
All the key personalities
came to the hearing,
516
00:31:12,537 --> 00:31:15,623
like the men at the controls
when the light started to flash.
517
00:31:15,707 --> 00:31:17,125
Each was asked to recite
518
00:31:17,208 --> 00:31:20,211
just what he did
that made a bad accident worse.
519
00:31:20,295 --> 00:31:25,258
I'm the one that turned off
the reactor coolant pumps initially.
520
00:31:25,341 --> 00:31:26,551
In my own mind,
521
00:31:26,634 --> 00:31:31,639
just the failure to recognize
that we had a relief valve
522
00:31:31,723 --> 00:31:37,645
that was still partially open
or open was probably the biggest event.
523
00:31:37,729 --> 00:31:40,648
People before Three Mile Island
always looked at,
524
00:31:40,732 --> 00:31:44,027
"An operator will always
assist you in a problem."
525
00:31:44,611 --> 00:31:46,863
We found out the operator,
526
00:31:47,447 --> 00:31:50,533
doing well-meaning actions
from their mind,
527
00:31:50,617 --> 00:31:54,287
actually did something that was
very detrimental to cooling the core.
528
00:31:54,370 --> 00:31:56,998
I also throttled
the high-pressure injection.
529
00:31:57,081 --> 00:32:00,627
They were in a condition
they had never been trained for,
530
00:32:00,710 --> 00:32:04,631
and there were many cases of
miscommunication and misunderstanding.
531
00:32:04,714 --> 00:32:07,050
So they were a little lost.
532
00:32:07,550 --> 00:32:08,927
But at the time,
533
00:32:09,010 --> 00:32:13,181
everybody was trying to do
what they thought was the right thing.
534
00:32:13,765 --> 00:32:17,560
A large number of the errors
made in the course of this accident
535
00:32:17,644 --> 00:32:18,645
were human errors.
536
00:32:18,728 --> 00:32:23,608
Out of the six things that went wrong,
about four and a half were people errors.
537
00:32:23,691 --> 00:32:27,153
One was an equipment malfunction,
and maybe one was a design error.
538
00:32:28,154 --> 00:32:29,674
The presidential commission
539
00:32:29,739 --> 00:32:32,325
says one piece of testimony
shocked its chairman.
540
00:32:33,159 --> 00:32:36,913
Before the Three Mile Island accident,
there had been repeated problems
541
00:32:36,996 --> 00:32:40,667
with pressure safety valves
of Babcock & Wilcox reactors.
542
00:32:40,750 --> 00:32:44,170
This should have forewarned
the possibility of an accident.
543
00:32:44,837 --> 00:32:49,092
There's been in, in the past,
a certain philosophy developed in NRC
544
00:32:49,842 --> 00:32:53,763
about reactor safety
that these accidents couldn't happen.
545
00:32:53,846 --> 00:32:57,725
Jim Creswell was an NRC inspector
546
00:32:57,809 --> 00:33:01,980
who was sent to look into a set of events
547
00:33:02,063 --> 00:33:04,440
that had taken place at the Davis-Besse
548
00:33:04,524 --> 00:33:07,485
nuclear power plant in Ohio.
549
00:33:07,568 --> 00:33:10,321
They didn't actually have an accident,
550
00:33:10,405 --> 00:33:13,241
but they came close enough
to arouse concern.
551
00:33:15,118 --> 00:33:20,957
So, Creswell requested an appointment
with me about these valve issues.
552
00:33:21,040 --> 00:33:26,045
And we met just six days before
the accident at Three Mile Island.
553
00:33:26,129 --> 00:33:28,673
I obviously thought
that they were serious.
554
00:33:29,298 --> 00:33:30,925
We developed a memo
555
00:33:31,009 --> 00:33:35,930
with a request that they treat it
with some urgency at NRC headquarters.
556
00:33:39,392 --> 00:33:45,440
But, unfortunately, the response came back
on the second day of the accident saying,
557
00:33:45,523 --> 00:33:48,609
"You don't really have to worry
about this sequence."
558
00:33:51,487 --> 00:33:56,909
Clearly, the Davis-Besse event is one that
the NRC and everybody wishes had been
559
00:33:56,993 --> 00:34:00,204
more widely disseminated
and understood before Three Mile Island.
560
00:34:00,288 --> 00:34:02,665
While an investigation
was conducted,
561
00:34:02,749 --> 00:34:07,045
sources say the NRC didn't take
Jim Creswell's concerns seriously,
562
00:34:07,128 --> 00:34:12,008
and the inquiry was designed less
to solve a problem than to quiet Creswell.
563
00:34:12,091 --> 00:34:15,762
Days prior to the core melt accident
at Three Mile Island,
564
00:34:15,845 --> 00:34:18,347
Jim Creswell sent up a flare,
565
00:34:18,431 --> 00:34:19,599
and nobody listened.
566
00:34:19,682 --> 00:34:21,851
...that these accidents couldn't happen.
567
00:34:21,934 --> 00:34:25,271
Three Mile Island was avoidable.
The accident didn't need to happen.
568
00:34:25,354 --> 00:34:29,192
If the NRC and the industry
would just listen to their staff.
569
00:34:29,275 --> 00:34:32,487
Perhaps post-TMI,
there's a different philosophy.
570
00:34:33,237 --> 00:34:35,573
But there's not a culture of safety.
571
00:34:35,656 --> 00:34:37,992
There's a culture of bottom line.
572
00:34:38,076 --> 00:34:39,076
The bottom line is,
573
00:34:39,118 --> 00:34:41,746
"At any cost we need
to make this thing profitable."
574
00:34:41,829 --> 00:34:43,164
"We need to make it work."
575
00:34:44,457 --> 00:34:47,585
So the reality was that the investigation
576
00:34:47,668 --> 00:34:50,171
into the severity of the accident
at Three Mile Island
577
00:34:50,254 --> 00:34:53,466
by the president's commission
was a whitewash.
578
00:34:54,425 --> 00:34:55,885
Thank you very much.
579
00:34:57,678 --> 00:35:01,933
The commission
found very serious shortcomings
580
00:35:02,016 --> 00:35:05,478
in the way that both the government
and the utility industry
581
00:35:05,561 --> 00:35:08,189
regulate and manage nuclear power.
582
00:35:08,940 --> 00:35:14,153
But we cannot shut the door
on nuclear power for the United States.
583
00:35:20,535 --> 00:35:23,871
It's quite clear that
the president's commission has given us
584
00:35:23,955 --> 00:35:28,501
and the American public
a simple message on nuclear power.
585
00:35:28,584 --> 00:35:32,547
Proceed, but proceed with caution.
586
00:35:32,630 --> 00:35:35,049
People who live
near the nuclear accident
587
00:35:35,133 --> 00:35:36,759
are struggling to deal with it.
588
00:35:37,677 --> 00:35:41,389
It proved that they are so far
589
00:35:41,472 --> 00:35:45,393
from seeing the reality of our community.
590
00:35:45,476 --> 00:35:47,687
Local residents
and government officials
591
00:35:47,770 --> 00:35:49,689
greeted the commissioners with anger.
592
00:35:49,772 --> 00:35:55,361
You could feel
the anger and the frustration.
593
00:35:55,444 --> 00:35:58,823
Where do we really count
in making these decisions,
594
00:35:58,906 --> 00:36:00,491
or do we count at all?
595
00:36:00,575 --> 00:36:04,996
When you're talking about the future
and the lives of your children,
596
00:36:05,079 --> 00:36:08,457
your grandchildren,
your future great-grandchildren...
597
00:36:08,541 --> 00:36:10,835
it is raw. It is raw.
598
00:36:12,086 --> 00:36:14,589
At a nuclear regulatory study
released today
599
00:36:14,672 --> 00:36:16,841
found that the Three Mile Island accident
600
00:36:16,924 --> 00:36:19,343
drove 44,000 people from their homes
601
00:36:19,427 --> 00:36:24,849
and cost 18.2 million dollars
in evacuation expenses and lost wages.
602
00:36:26,392 --> 00:36:29,061
When the fire
and the hurricanes are over,
603
00:36:29,145 --> 00:36:32,648
you can come back, and you can rebuild.
604
00:36:33,816 --> 00:36:36,485
We came back,
and the problem was still here.
605
00:36:38,529 --> 00:36:42,992
I could either accept what they said,
and go with the flow,
606
00:36:43,075 --> 00:36:45,578
or I could be the master of my own fate,
607
00:36:45,661 --> 00:36:47,955
and I wanted to know the truth.
608
00:36:53,920 --> 00:36:58,341
Even after President Carter came,
after the hydrogen bubble,
609
00:36:58,424 --> 00:37:03,262
the whole accident scenario
that occurred at Three Mile Island
610
00:37:03,346 --> 00:37:07,683
had a huge impact on the nuclear industry.
611
00:37:10,853 --> 00:37:15,441
But nobody knew for sure
how much damage was done to the reactor.
612
00:37:28,788 --> 00:37:32,333
Until now, experts
could only guess the true damage done
613
00:37:32,416 --> 00:37:34,877
to the nuclear power plant
at Three Mile Island,
614
00:37:34,961 --> 00:37:38,047
but today technicians will have
first-hand evidence
615
00:37:38,130 --> 00:37:41,133
of what really happened
inside the reactor core.
616
00:37:42,468 --> 00:37:44,804
July of 1982,
617
00:37:44,887 --> 00:37:49,058
we performed a procedure
that we termed "quick look."
618
00:37:50,476 --> 00:37:53,271
We sent radiation monitoring equipment
619
00:37:53,354 --> 00:37:58,067
and a camera down into the core
where we could survey the damage.
620
00:38:00,528 --> 00:38:02,905
There was great technological debate
621
00:38:02,989 --> 00:38:05,825
about how much damage was in the core.
622
00:38:05,908 --> 00:38:11,163
So we had live TV,
and we had live audio as he lowered it in,
623
00:38:11,247 --> 00:38:13,249
and it was complete silence in the room.
624
00:38:15,501 --> 00:38:17,336
Both cables are going down.
625
00:38:19,630 --> 00:38:22,383
We're now two feet into the core.
626
00:38:24,635 --> 00:38:27,096
We... We are approaching four feet.
627
00:38:27,680 --> 00:38:30,474
Four feet.
People are saying, "Oh, my goodness."
628
00:38:31,767 --> 00:38:34,770
It's five feet down. Go slow
right there. See if we can get that.
629
00:38:34,854 --> 00:38:37,773
- All right. Let me slow down here.
- Just slow...
630
00:38:38,691 --> 00:38:41,402
We've got so much light. Can we...
631
00:38:44,780 --> 00:38:46,282
Beautiful picture, Norman.
632
00:38:46,866 --> 00:38:48,993
Well, I'd love to know
what the hell it is.
633
00:38:50,369 --> 00:38:53,622
We discovered that
the upper one half of the core
634
00:38:53,706 --> 00:38:57,251
had literally just
collapsed in on top of itself.
635
00:38:57,335 --> 00:38:59,879
It was a molten mess.
636
00:39:03,382 --> 00:39:06,093
There was a lot more damage
done to the reactor
637
00:39:06,177 --> 00:39:08,179
than anybody thought we had done.
638
00:39:09,305 --> 00:39:10,389
Anybody.
639
00:39:10,473 --> 00:39:13,559
We're talking about massive core damage.
640
00:39:14,143 --> 00:39:15,895
When they lost cooling water,
641
00:39:15,978 --> 00:39:19,023
the core had been exposed
and melted at that point.
642
00:39:19,106 --> 00:39:23,486
Meaning that we came within of
maybe 30 minutes of a catastrophe
643
00:39:23,569 --> 00:39:28,783
involving a steam explosion
blowing the entire reactor apart.
644
00:39:34,038 --> 00:39:35,331
Thirty minutes.
645
00:39:35,414 --> 00:39:37,917
I didn't realize it was 30 minutes.
646
00:39:41,712 --> 00:39:43,214
Dear God...
647
00:39:45,049 --> 00:39:46,717
It was a meltdown.
648
00:39:48,928 --> 00:39:50,930
The accident at Three Mile Island
649
00:39:51,013 --> 00:39:55,059
was the worst nuclear accident
that ever happened on American soil.
650
00:39:55,142 --> 00:40:00,022
Little did we know
there was another scenario awaiting us
651
00:40:00,106 --> 00:40:04,068
that was potentially
much more dangerous than the accident.
57732
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