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As plans continue to recommission the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania, the Nuclear Free Local Authorities wish to reflect on the actions of the late President Jimmy Carter following the accident which occured at the plant 46 years ago today.
The Three Mile Island accident is considered the worst in the history of the United States nuclear industry. On this date in 1979, the Unit 2 reactor (TMI-2) suffered a partial meltdown as a consequence of equipment failure and operator error. The reactor lost cooling water, exposing the core which led to the release of some radioactive gas.
The United States was at that time at least fortunate in having in President Carter a head of state with knowledge of nuclear fission and a history of responding calmly in a nuclear crisis.
In October 2024, on the former President becoming a centenarian, the NFLAs sent him our warm birthday wishes but used the occasion to highlight President Carter’s past as a nuclear engineer and his brave, though largely unknown, contribution repairing a reactor in Canada following a serious nuclear accident.
As a young US Navy Lieutenant, Jimmy Carter had graduated in engineering and taken courses in nuclear technology. After training, he became part of the nuclear submarine service. As one of only a few officers authorised to enter a nuclear reactor, Carter led a contingent of 22 fellow submariners in dismantling and repairing a badly damaged reactor following an accident at the Chalk River plant in Canada in 1952. Each team member was in turn lowered into the reactor to work for no more than ninety seconds. Carter took his turn, receiving in this short time the full dose of radiation permitted for a full year and therefore joked that for six months his urine when regularly tested was found to be radioactive! [i]
Only four days after the Three Mile Island disaster, President Carter visited the plant bringing
‘calm and hope to central Pennsylvanians in the wake of the most serious accident at a commercial nuclear plant in U.S. history.’[ii] Donning distinctive yellow boots, the President toured the control room in the damaged plant, accompanied by Harold Denton, Director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and Dick Thornburgh, Governor of Pennsylvania.
After being elected in 1977, President Carter had established a new Department of Energy, in part to seek more nuclear power as “an energy source of last resort” to lessen the United States’ reliance on foreign oil. However, in his short speech following his visit to the striken nuclear plant on April 1, the President recognised the technology’s shortcomings promising to initiate a ‘thorough inquiry’ into the circumstances that led to the accident and make the results public; this would help make plain “the status of nuclear safety in the future”.
Local officials at the time said Carter’s visit helped to dispel immediate panic and boost morale amongst people living near the plant, but, subsequently, public disquiet manifested after perceptions of a partial cover-up by nuclear industry officials and regulators. In response six inquiries were established at federal, state and local level, and other specialist government agencies also initiated investigations into the accident. This clearly represented an uncoordinated and duplicated effort and, true to his word, the President appointed John Kemeny, president of Dartmouth College, to lead a President’s Commission on the accident.
The Kemeny Commission did not take a stance on nuclear power’s future; instead in its report[iii], the Commission lambasted the lax attitude that had permeated the nuclear industry in the years before the accident. For its egregious deficiencies, the principal finger was pointed at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the federal agency responsible for regulating the nuclear power industry. This was charged as being so dysfunctional that its five-member panel should be abolished and restructured as an independent agency in the executive branch.
The NRC had morphed only five years earlier from the Atomic Energy Commission. Ironically Carter had worked with the AEC as a young naval officer, but the AEC was responsible for both nuclear promotion and regulation, with many staff having industry sympathies and connections; consequently, it left the industry largely unfettered in its operations. Recognising this unfortunate conflict in its dual role, the US Congress in 1974 split the AEC, creating the NRC to oversee the role of regulation. However, many of the AEC’s staff moved across so little changed.
In 1975, the new agency published the Rasmussen Report, which downplayed the risk of any nuclear accident, stating that people and property would only suffer minimally. This complacency was attacked by the Kemeny Commission, which found that the agency overlooked small, and more subtle, industry failures, the sort of shortcomings that ultimately led to the disaster at Three Mile Island.
On the publication of the Commission’s report, President Carter made a commitment to implement “almost all” of the recommendations and set out a series of actions that he expected agencies of the Federal Government and the industry to carry out to would implement the findings and outlined a series of actions to “ensure that nuclear power plants are operated safely”. Fortunately, most people in Washington recognised that action needed to be taken and even the NRC acknowledged that the Commission’s recommendations were ‘necessary and feasible’.
Although its five-member board was not abolished, after the accident, Carter replaced the NRC Chairman and ensured that his successor was granted increased Congressional authority in accordance with his personal wishes. The NRC budget was also significantly increased and, within ten years, many of the Kemeny Commission’s recommendations had been implemented to make the NRC more effective in a regulatory role.
The Three Mile Island accident had a significant impact on the fortunes of the US nuclear industry. According to the US Energy Information Administration, plans for 67 new nuclear power plants were cancelled between 1979 and 1988.
The Unit 2 reactor (TMI-2) never restarted after the accident with the Utah-based company Energy Solutions being commissioned with cleaning up the site. The Unit 1 reactor (TMI-1) continued power generation until September 20, 2019, when it was shut down because it became economically uncompetitive to generate electricity at the plant against other energy sources such as natural gas.
Ironically there are now plans to restart generation at the plant, this time backed by a deal to supply electricity to Microsoft to power data centres.
Ends://. For more information, please contact NFLA Secretary Richard Outram by email to richard.outram@manchester.gov.uk
President Carter’s speech following his visit to the plant:
My primary concern in coming here this afternoon has been to learn as much as I possibly can, as President, about the problems at the Three Mile Island nuclear Power plant and to assure the people, of this region that everything possible is being done and will be done to cope with these problems, both at the reactor and in the contingency planning for all eventualities that might occur in the future.
I want to commend Governor Thornburgh and other State and local officials for their leadership. And I would like to express my personal admiration and appreciation for the citizens of this area who, under the most difficult circumstances, have behaved in a calm and a responsible manner.
I would also like to express my thanks and admiration for the civilian and government personnel who continue to devote themselves without reservation to solving the problems at the reactor site.
The working relation among State, local, Federal, and private personnel has been excellent. And it’s also been productive.
The primary and overriding concern for all of us is the health and the safety of the people of this entire area. As I’ve said before, if we make an error, all of us want to err on the side of extra precautions and extra safety.
I’ve learned that the radiation levels are being very carefully monitored throughout the area, and any trend toward higher levels would immediately be reported to me and to Governor Thornburgh and others. And every effort will be made to keep those radiation levels down to the present state, which is quite safe for all concerned.
The challenge in the future will be to cool down the reactor core itself to a safe level. And at the present time, all those who are involved here, who are highly qualified, tell me that the reactor core is indeed stable.
However, within the next few days, important decisions will be made on how to bring the reactor down to a cold and stable state. As always, in that transition period, careful preparations are being made, every eventuality is being assessed, and, above all, the health and safety of people involved will be paramount.
I would like to say to the people who live around the Three Mile Island plant that if it does become necessary, your Governor, Governor Thornburgh, will ask you and others in this area to take appropriate action to ensure your safety. If he does, I want to urge that these instructions be carried out calmly and exactly, as they have been in the past few days.
This will not indicate that danger is high. It will indicate that a change is being made in the operation of the cooling water system to permanently correct the present state of the reactor, and it’s strictly a precautionary measure.
It’s too early yet to make judgments about the lessons to be learned from this nuclear incident. Once the job of satisfactorily dealing with the present circumstances is completed, then there will be a thorough inquiry into the original causes and, obviously, into the events that have occurred since the incident, and additional safety precautions will undoubtedly be evolved. Perhaps some design changes will be implemented to make sure that there is no recurrence of this incident or one similar to it.
We will also do everything possible -I will be personally responsible for thoroughly informing the American people about this particular incident and the status of nuclear safety in the future.
I intend to make sure that the investigation is conducted, is conducted thoroughly, and the results are made public.
And now, I would like to have the honor of introducing a man who has done a superlative job in coordinating this entire effort. And because of the trust of the American people in him, and particularly those who live in this region, potential panic and disturbance has been minimized.
And I again want to congratulate you, Governor Thornburgh, and thank you on behalf of our country for doing such a superb job.
Thank you very much.
President Carter’s Statement following the issue of the Kemeny Commission report, 7 Dec 1979
I have reviewed the report or the commission I established to investigate the accident at Three Mile Island nuclear power plant. The commission, chaired by Dr. John Kemeny, found very serious shortcomings in the way that both the Government and the utility industry regulate and manage nuclear power.
The steps I am taking today will help ensure that nuclear power plants are operated safely. Safety has always been, and will remain, my top priority.
As I have stated before, in this country, nuclear power is an energy source of last resort. By this I meant that as we reach our goals for conservation, direct use of coal, development of solar power and synthetic fuels and enhanced production of American oil ‐and natural gas, we can minimize our reliance on nuclear power.
Many of our foreign allies must place greater reliance than do we on nuclear power, because they do not have the vast natural resources that give us many alternatives. We must get on with the job of developing alternative energy sources by passing the legislation I proposed to the Congress, and by making an effort at every level of society to conserve energy.
We cannot shut the door on nuclear energy.
The recent events in Iran have shown us the clear, stark dangers that excessive dependence on imported oil holds for our nation. We must make every effort to lead this country to energy security.
Every domestic energy source, including nuclear power, is critical if we are to free our country from its overdependence on unstable sources of high-priced foreign oil. We do not have the luxury of abandoning nuclear power or imposing a lengthy moratorium on its further use. A nuclear plant can displace up to 35,000 barrels per day.
We must take every possible step to increase the safety of nuclear power production. I agree fully with the spirit and intent of the Kemeny Commission’s recommendations, some of which are within my power to implement, others of which rely on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or the utility industry itself.
First, I will send to Congress a reorganization plan to strengthen the role of the chairman of the N.R.C. and provide this person with the power to act on a daily basis as the chief executive officer, with authority to put needed safety requirements and procedures in place. The chairman must be able to select key personnel, and act on behalf of the commission during an emergency.
Second, I will appoint a new chairman of the N.R.C., someone from outside that agency, in the spirit of the Kemeny Commission’s recommendation. In the meantime, I have asked Commissioner Ahearne, now on the N.R.C., to serve as chairman. Dr. Ahearne will stress safety and the prompt implementation of the needed reforms. In addition, I will establish an independent advisory committee to help keep me informed of the progress the N.R.C. and the industry are achieving in making nuclear energy safer.
Third, I am directing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to head up all off‐side emergency activities and complete a thorough review of emergency plans in all states with operating reactors by June.
Fourth, I have directed N.R.C. and other agencies to accelerate our program to place a resident Federal inspector at every reactor site.
Fifth, I am asking all relevant Government agencies to implement virtually all of the other recommendations of the Kemeny Commission.
But responsibility to make nuclear power safer does not stop with the Federal Government. In fact, the primary, day‐to‐day responsibility for safety rests with utility company management and suppliers of nuclear equipment.
I call on the utilities to implement the following changes:
First, building on the steps already taken, the industry must organize itself to develop enhanced standards for safe design, operation, and construction of plants.
Second, the nuclear industry must work together to develop and to maintain in operation a comprehensive training, examination and evaluation program for operators and supervisors. This training program must pass muster with the N.R.C. through accreditation of training programs.
Third, control rooms must be modernized, standardized and simplified as much as possible to permit better informed decision‐making during an emergency.
Finally, I would like to discuss how we manage the transition period during which the Kemeny recommendations are being implemented. There are a number of new nuclear plants now awaiting operating licenses or construction permits.
Licensing decisions rest with the N.R.C. and, as the Kemeny Commission noted, it has the authority to proceed with licensing these plants on a case‐by‐case basis, which may be used as circumstances surrounding a plant dictate. The N.R.C. has indicated, however, that it will pause in issuing new licenses and construction permits in order to devote its full attention to putting his house in order. I endorse the approach the N.R.C. has adopted, but I urge the N.R.C. to complete its work as quickly as possible, and in any event no later than six months from today.
Once we have instituted the necessary reforms to assure safety, we must resume the licensing process promptly so that the new plants which we need to reduce our dependence on foreign oil can be built and operated.
A Chronology of Events:
The Patriot-News, after intense coverage of the partial meltdown at Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Londonderry Twp., Dauphin County, printed a special section on April 16, 1979, called “The Agony of the Atom.”
That section included this chronology:
WEDNESDAY, March 28
3:53 a.m. – A malfunctioning valve causes the shutdown of two pumps in the secondary feedwater system, a separate unit that cools the water circulating through the reactor core, and triggers a chain reaction of mechanical and human errors.
3:53:09 – The reactor ‘scrams’, or stops, the nuclear fission process by automatically dropping 67 control rods to mesh with the tubes of enriched uranium that form the reactor core.
3:53:12 – A relief valve on the reactor coolant pressurizer fails to close, eventually causing about 250,000 gallons of radioactive water to spill onto the floor of the reactor containment building.
3:53:30 – Three auxiliary pumps kick in but fail to provide cooling water to supplement the shut-down feedwater system because the valves that should have been open were closed.
3:55 – The Emergency Core Coolant System dumps tons of water into the reactor core to reduce the intense heat that should have been diminished with the assistance of the auxiliary feedwater system.
3:57:30 – A control room technician shuts down the first pump on the ECCS after either misreading or getting false readings from his instruments. A second pump was tripped about six minutes later, completely halting the last line of defense against overheating.
4:00:03 – A sump pump in the containment building activates and transfers water into a nearby auxiliary building. Radioactive steam from the water eventually finds its way into the atmosphere through a venting system.
4:01 – Technicians realize the auxiliary cooling system is not functioning and open the closed valves in an attempt to bring down the temperatures in the reactor.
5:22 – The plant operators shut down two other pumps controlling the flow of water around the reactor core, further contributing to the fuel damage and the rise of the hydrogen bubble at the top of the reactor vessel that was to deter cold shutdown steps into the next week.
6:50 – Plant officials first begin to realize the seriousness of the situation and that radiation may have escaped into the atmosphere. A site emergency is declared.
7:00 – Clarence Deller of the state Emergency Management Agency office is notified of the emergency and begins to launch an “alert for evacuation plan” for Dauphin, York and Lancaster counties.
7:37 – Donald “Butch” Ryan, a fire-police dispatcher in Middletown receives word of an emergency at the plant and is told to stand by.
8:10 – The Emergency Management Agency cancels its alert.
8:30 – Cumberland County emergency preparedness officials are notified of the accident.
8:55 – A Patriot-News reporter learns from county and state officials that an emergency has been declared at TMI. Initial reports indicated there was a radiation leak due to a “failure to fuel.” The first reporter is dispatched to the scene.
10:20 – Bill Gross, a Metropolitan Edison Co. public relations representative reads a statement from Gary Miller, the station manager, reporting on the problem in technical terms and saying that radioactive monitoring teams have found nothing on or off-site.
11:00 – Between 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. MetEd engineers vent radioactive steam from the plant. During the same period, Lt. Gov. William Scranton III is holding the first of three news conferences, saying everything is “under control” and there appears to be “no danger to public health or safety.”
1:15 p.m. – John G. Herbein, MetEd vice president of generation, greets the news media for the first time at the TMI Observation Center, noting the “plant’s in safe condition.” He denies any delay in notifying authorities and contends radiation releases are very small. He indicates there may have been 0.1 or 0.5 percent damage to the 36,000 fuel rods.
4:30 – Scranton says the utility has ended “venting contaminated steam” into the air but accused MetEd of earlier giving the state “conflicting information.”
5:00 – The plant again vents radioactive steam.
THURSDAY, March 29
10:00 a.m. – MetEd holds a press conference at the Hershey Convention Center where company president Walter M. Creitz says the cooldown is occurring at a “more rapid rate.” The radiation leaked from the plant has been in the low 5- to 7-millirems per hour level, according to company monitoring teams. The incident is nothing out of the “ordinary realm.”
12:15 p.m. – A news conference is held at the Friends Meeting House in Harrisburg by Dr. George Wald, a 1967 Nobel prize winner, and Dr. Ernest J. Sternglass, director of radiological physics for the University of Pittsburgh. Sternglass calls for the plant to be shut down and Wald says any radiation can cause harm.
3:00 – MetEd and Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials hold briefings for four senators and five congressmen. Sen. Gary Hart, D-Colo., labels the mishap the most serious accident in the history of nuclear power and calls for congressional hearings. Sen. George W. Gekas, R-Harrisburg, says he will introduce legislation to require immediate notification of officials in the event of any incident at the plant.
11:00 – An NRC official in Washington says the damage to the fuel rods is more serious than originally thought and indicates it will be a long time before the clean-up is finished.
FRIDAY, March 30
7:15 a.m. – Between 7:15 and 8:15 a.m. an “uncontrolled” burst of radioactive gas is vented from the containment building into the auxiliary building and a plane carrying detection equipment measures radiation levels of between 300 and 1,200 millirems per hour.
9:00 – York County Civil Defense director Leslie Jackson puts phase 1 of the nuclear disaster plan for the county into operation, primarily to “stop the panic,” caused by unconfirmed reports of evacuation.
9:30 – E.C. McCabe, an NRC official, confirms the release of radioactivity to reporters outside the NRC trailer at the TMI Observation Center.
9:45 – Herbein tells a Patriot-News reporter that “some venting” was done in the evening and possibly radiation levels did climb “momentarily.” Asked if an area alert was in progress, he replied he was “not sure.”
10:00 – County Civil Defense organizations and the Pennsylvania National Guard are placed on standby for possible evacuation. The Associated Press moves an “urgent” story staying the governor is considering the evacuation of four counties.
10:35 – Thornburgh’s press secretary Paul Critchlow indicates there is “no need to evacuate” but says the governor has warned people within a 10-mile radius of the plan to stay indoors and close their windows.
11:00 – A second release of radioactive gases occurs.
11:15 – President Jimmy Carter telephones Thornburgh and offers his assistance. A siren goes off in downtown Harrisburg causing some panic.
11:45 – Herbein holds a news conference in Middletown where he tells reporters he did not see the need to warn Civil Defense officials of the latest release and, for the first time, considerable discussion centers on a bubble building in the reactor vessel.
12:30 – Thornburgh issues his “advisory” for pregnant women and preschool age children to evacuate from a five-mile radius of the plant. He also orders 23 schools in the area to close.
1:00 – Three West Shore School District schools begin evacuation.
4:00 – The Harrisburg East Mall closes early.
7:00 – Evacuees from the Middletown area line up for their first meal at Hersheypark Arena.
10:00 – Thornburgh holds a news conference in the Capitol News Center and introduces Harold Denton, the NRC official personally sent by Carter to supervise the operation. Thornsburgh says that the indoor restriction will be lifted at midnight for residents within the 10-mile radius of the plant.
SATURDAY, March 31
4:00 – Evacuation of the residents of Frey Village in Middletown takes place as an independent decision of the home operators. Officials at the Odd Fellows Home of Pennsylvania make a similar decision somewhat later.
11:00 – MetEd holds its final news conference in Middletown and the responsibility for the emergency operations at the plant shifts to the NRC. MetEd and the NRC disagree over the size of the bubble. Herbein says he believes the “crisis is over.”
8:27 – An AP story marked “urgent” quotes an NRC source in Washington as saying the hydrogen bubble is so volatile there is a chance of an explosion.
10:10 – Denton and Thornburgh are conferring in the governor’s office when they are interrupted by a call from presidential press secretary Jody Powell informing them that President Carter would be visiting Three Mile Island.
11:50 – Denton at a news conference says he “sees no possibility” of an explosion in the reactor vessel or containment building. The Thornburgh advisory remains in effect. Mass evacuation is again discounted.
SUNDAY, April 1
10:00 – Middletown Borough officials receive word that Carter is coming. Workers tear down a temporary press center set up for visiting reporters to permit Carter to hold his news conference in the borough hall.
2:00 – Carter dons yellow plastic booties and tours the control room at TMI-2.
3:00 – A grave Carter reads a brief statement to the press while Rosalynn greets the crowd gathered outside the borough hall.
3:15 – Denton briefs reporters on the bubble and warns that the “next few days are critical” in reducing the danger. He raises the possibility of mass evacuation if the bubble is to be removed by increasing coolant pressure or blasting it out with high pressure steam.
MONDAY, April 2
10:00 – MetEd engineers obtain a reading of about 175 cubic feet for the bubble. Estimates had placed the size of the sphere at about 850 cubic feet a few days prior.
11:30 – A “dramatic” decrease in the size of the bubble has been realized. Denton tells reporters during a news conference in the Middletown Borough building. An almost audible sigh of relief seems to emanate from the community as the crisis passes.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The times represented in this chronology in some cases are approximate.
[i] https://www.nuclearpolicy.info/news/happy-birthday-mr-president-congratulations-sent-to-jimmy-carter-on-100th-birthday/
[ii] https://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2024/12/30/jimmy-carter-pennsylvanians-three-mile-island-partial-meltdown/
[iii] https://www.ans.org/file/6651/1/Kemeny%20Commission%20Report.pdf
