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• Construction cost: $2.37B adjusted for inflation
• Initially licensed to operate for 40 years
• Generates 819 MWatts of electricity -
• Began operation over four years following Unit 1
• Slightly larger than Unit 1
• Greater output by 87 MWatts electrical capacity -
• Film showing fictional nuclear power plant meltdown and cover-up
• Theatrical release twelve days prior to TMI event
• Well received publicly, though experts deemed unrealistic -
• Malfunction in secondary coolant circuit causes temp in primary to rise
• Reactor automatically shuts down
• Relief valve fails to close
• Core suffers severe damage due to loss of primary coolant -
• High pressure injections pumps automatically turned on to replace the lost coolant
• Operators misinterpret the rising water levels to be increased pressure building and shut down pumps
• This contributes to a rise in hydrogen levels
• The continued lack of coolant contributes to rising heat levels at the reactor core and damages fuel rods
• Damage releases radioactive materials into the remaining coolant waters -
• An operator arriving for their shift notices the irregular temperature of one of the valves
• Initiates a manual block valve to prevent further loss of coolant
• By this point 100,000 liters of coolant had been lost -
• Radiation alarms begin signalling detection of radioactive materials
• A site-wide emergency is declared
• Metropolitan Edison, the site operator, in notified of the incident -
• Mike Pintek, local WKBO's news director, is alerted by a local traffic reporter of emergency vehicles entering and leaving TMI facilities
• Pintek calls TMI directly, operators answer with alarms blaring and state they cannot speak
• Pintek goes on air to confirm an incident is ongoing at the reactor site
• FEMA briefly considers an evacuation declaration but quickly calls it off -
• MetEd release statement insisting that no radiation levels have been detected off-site
• Conflicting information from the site operators, local news and government officials causes public unease and panic
• MetEd VP John Herbein makes public press conference appearance to state that misinformation is preventing workers from "doing their jobs" -
• Further cooldown efforts seem to stabilize the reactor core to prevent total meltdown
• Staff for Gov. Thornburgh assures residents that there is no need to evacuate at this time
• Recommendations are made to remain indoors and close windows -
• Release of gasses to continue cooling reactor results in the release of radiation into atmosphere
• Helicopters monitoring the site detect 12 mSv of radiation in air, the first off-site detection of radiation
• Risk of hydrogen bubble developing from increased reactor pressure adds to worry of a hydrogen explosion
• Gov. Thornburgh consults with NRC about potentially evacuating residents -
• Gov. Thornburgh appears publicly to address the new developments
• Pregnant women and preschool-aged children are recommended to evacuate within five miles of the plant
• Mistrust and lack of communication results in the eventual evacuation of 100,000 people
• Thornburgh asks President Carter to send Harold Denton, director of NRC, to provide reliable information on risks and assessments going forward -
• Pres. and Mrs. Carter visit the site and control rooms in an effort to abate the public's fears
• Experts determine the lack of oxygen present in the pressure vessel made the possibility of a hydrogen explosion not feasible
• Hundreds of environmental samples taken at this time determined almost no iodine levels and only slightly elevated levels of noble gasses in the surrounding areas -
• Pres. Carter appoints commission to investigate the events that lead to the incident and potential public health risks
• Studies found average radiation dose to residents within 10 miles to be 0.08 mSv, with the highest possible dose at 1 mSv
• Over the course of several years, it was officially determined that no adverse health events came of the incident -
• TMI-2 cleanup plan took nearly twelve years
• Total cost was $973 million
• 100 tons of damaged uranium fuel were safely removed
• 10.6 MLiters were processed, stored and evaporated