Three Mile Island Nuclear Accident: Here's All You Need To Know About America's Chernobyl

It has been over a week since the new four-part docuseries Meltdown: Three Mile Island arrived on Netflix. The series talks about the dangerous partial meltdown of a nuclear power plant in central Pennsylvania in 1979. This marked the worst commercial nuclear accident on U.S. soil.

It may not be as magnanimous as Chernobyl in 1986 but it still remains the worst commercial nuclear accident to happen on U.S. soil.

Even though the accident was downplayed, there are testimonials from the plant¡¯s chief engineer and whistleblower, Richard Parks, and people from the surrounding community in the Netflix docuseries. But if you want to know about it, here are some details:

What Actually Happened at Three Mile Island?

According to History.com, on March 28, 1979, The Three Mile Island saw a partial breakdown. It all started with a broken pressure valve that let cooling water drain out. The valve had been opened since there was a minor malfunction in one of the reactors' cooling circuits. But following this, the workers in the control room failed to notice that the valve did not close as it was supposed to.

Since the coolant pressure wasn't sufficient, the power plant's core heated up to 4,000 degrees. If it had hit 5,000 degrees, the plant could have seen a total meltdown. Thankfully, since there was no full breakdown, there were no radiation leaks.

Britannica

Though it seemed like things are in control, later that afternoon they discovered that a bubble of hydrogen gas had formed in the reactor building. The World Nuclear Association said the staff was able to diffuse the hydrogen bubble by periodically opening a vent valve on the reactor cooling system pressurizer.

Did It Lead To Anyone's Death?

Local people were asked to stay inside unless the authorities were certain whether the hydrogen bubble would cause a further meltdown or an explosion. The government asked pregnant women and children to leave the area if they lived within a five-mile radius. Thankfully, nobody died.

NPR

According to the American Nuclear Society, the damaged nuclear reactor system took nearly 12 years and about $973 million to clean up. This accident is also known as America's Chernobyl.

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