Three Mile Island: The Inside Story

The principal sources of information about the accident and the crisis and the cleanup are volume 87 (1989) of the journal Nuclear Technology, with all four issues devoted to technical articles on TMI-2; the technical history of the cleanup by Holton, et al. (ref. 12), and the recent book by J. Samuel Walker (ref. 32). A brief but comprehensive technical account of the reactor and the accident is given by Knief (ref. 15).

References (referred to by number in texts)

1. Bechtel Northern Corp. “Quick Look inspection” (GEND-030), vol. 1 (1983 March), abstract; vol. 2 (1983 April), abstract.

2. Beller, Larry S., and Harry L. Brown. “Design and operation of the core topography data acquisition system for TMI-2” (GEND-INF-012, 1984 May).

3. Beller, Larry S., and Michael R. Martin. “Ultrasonic mapping of the postaccident TMI-2 core configuration,” American Nuclear Society, Transactions, vol. 46, p. 482 (1984).

4. Broughton, James M., Pui Kuan, David A. Petti, and E. L. Tolman. “A scenario of the Three Mile Island unit 2 accident,” Nuclear Technology, vol. 87, pp. 34-53 (1989).

5. Burton, H. M., and R. L. Freemerman. “Reactor disassembly activities at Three Mile Island unit 2,” Progress in Nuclear Energy, vol. 17, pp. 141-174 (1986).

6. Cole, Norman R. “Assessing the damage at TMI-2,” TMI-2: a learning experience. ANS Executive Conference, 1985 (MPR Associates report MPR-889, 1985).

7. Cole, Norman R., T. Friderichs, and B. Lipford (MPR Asssociates). “Specimens removed from the damaged Three Mile Island reactor vessel,” pp. 81-91 in Three Mile Island reactor pressure vessel investigation project (1994).

8. Eidam, G. R., “Core damage,” pp.87-107 in Toth, ed., The Three Mile Island accident (1986).

9. Franz, W. A., R. L. Rider, W. A. Austin, N. Cole. “TMI-2 ‘Quick Look’ examination.” American Nuclear Society, Transactions, vol. 43, pp. 4-5 (1982).

10. Garner, Richard W., Dennis E. Owen, Michael R. Martin. “An assessment of the TMI-2 axial power shaping rod dynamic test results” (GEND-INF-038, April 1983).

11. Greenlee, D. W. “In-vessel inspection before head removal: TMI II, phase II (tooling and systems design)” (GEND-010), vol. 2 (1981 July), abstract.

12. Holton, W. C., C. A. Negin, S. L. Owrutsky. The cleanup of Three Mile Island unit 2. A technical history: 1979 to 1990. Electric Power Research Institute (report NP-6931), 1990.

13. Institution of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. IEEE Spectrum, vol. 16, nr 11 (Nov. 1979). Special issue on Three Mile Island accident and the nuclear power industry in the United States.

14. Institution of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. IEEE Spectrum, vol. 21, nr 4 (April 1984). Special issue on “Nuclear power: in the wake of Three Mile Island.”

15. Knief, Ronald Allen. Nuclear engineering: theory and technology of commercial nuclear power, rev. ed. (Taylor and Francis: Washington, D.C., 1992), pp. 420-450.

16. Marley, Alan W., Douglas W. Akers, and Charles V. McIsaac. “Sampling and examination methods used for Three Mile Island unit 2,” Nuclear Technology, vol. 87, pp. 845-856.

17. Olsen, Charles S., Steven M. Jensen, and Eric R. Carlson. “Materials interactions and temperatures in the Three Mile Island unit 2 core,” Nuclear Technology, vol. 87, pp. 57-77 (1989)

18. Osif, Bonnie A., Anthony J. Baratta, Thomas W. Conkling. TMI 25 years later : the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant accident and its impact. Pennsylvania State University Press, 2004.

19. Owen, D. E., and M. R. Martin. “TMI-2 core examination: first results,” American Nuclear Society, Transactions, vol. 43, p. 5 (1982).

20. Parlee, K., J. Weissburg, W. A. Austin. “Axial power shaping rod insertion test.” American Nuclear Society, Transactions, vol. 43, pp. 3-4 (1982).

21. Patterson, Rayford L., Michael L. Estabrook, and D. C. Wilson. “Data acquision methods used at Three Mile Island unit 2,” Nuclear Technology, vol. 87, pp. 571-596 (1989).

22. Stacy, Susan M. Proving the principle: a history of the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, 1949-1999. Idaho Falls, Idaho: Idaho Operations Office of the Dept. of Energy, 2000. Available at http://www.inel.gov/proving-the-principle/.

23. Standerfer, F. R. (GPU). “Three Mile Island unit 2: plant recovery,” Nuclear Technology, vol. 87, pp. 54-56 (1989).

24. Thomas, Garry R. “Description of the accident,” pp.2-25 in Toth, ed., The Three Mile Island accident (1986).

25. Three Mile Island reactor pressure vessel investigation project : achievements and significant results : proceedings of an open forum sponsored by the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency and the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Boston (USA), 20-22 October 1993. Paris : Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ; Washington, D.C. : OECD Publications and Information Centre, 1994.

26. Toth, L.M., ed., The Three Mile Island accident. American Chemical Society, 1986.

27. United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Environment and Public Works. Subcommittee on Nuclear Regulation. Nuclear accident and recovery at Three Mile Island : a report. Washington : U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1980.

28. United States. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. TMI-1 restart : evaluation of licensees compliance with the short-and long-term items of Section II of the NRC Order dated August 9, 1979, Metropolitan Edison Company, et al., Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Unit 1, Docket 50-289 (NUREG-0680). Reprinted in United States. Congress. House. Committee on Science and Technology. Subcommittee on Energy Research and Production. Lessons learned in utility management and the status of the R&D program following the accident at Three Mile Island: hearing before the Subcommittee ... May 22, 1984. Washington : U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1985.

29. United States. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Special Inquiry Group. Three Mile Island : a report to the Commissioners and to the public. Washington, D.C.: Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Special Inquiry Group, 1980. 2 vols. in 4. [Aka “Rogovin report.”] Available at http://www.threemileisland.org/

30. United States. President's Commission on the Accident at Three Mile Island. The need for change, the legacy of TMI : report of the President's Commission on the Accident at Three Mile Island. Washington, D.C. : The Commission, 1979. [Aka “Kemeny Commission report.”] Available at http://www.threemileisland.org/

31. United States. President's Commission on the Accident at Three Mile Island. Office of Chief Counsel. Report of the Office of Chief Counsel on the role of the managing utility and its suppliers. Washington, D.C. : The Office of Chief Counsel ..., 1979.
Available at http://www.threemileisland.org/

32. Walker, J. Samuel. Three Mile Island: a nuclear crisis in historical perspective. University of California Press, 2004.

Websites

http://www.threemileisland.org/ offers by far the largest amount of documentation relating to the accident. Prepared by a group of faculty at Dickinson College, in Carlisle, Pa., assisted by many students, it reproduces in full the reports of the two principal investigative commissions, the "Kemeny" and "Rogovin" reports, and many other documents, as well as transcripts of interviews with persons experiencing the accident from different situations.

The single best website for links to other sources of information is the ECHO Science & Technology Memory Bank on the Accident at Three Mile Island, where you may also read the recollections of people who lived through the TMI crisis and may record your own recollections of that event. http://echo.gmu.edu/tmi/index.html

Beyond those two websites, the following are suggested for further information about the accident at Three Mile Island and about nuclear power generally:

Dramatic account of first stages of accident with good, brief technical explanations:
http://kd4dcy.net/tmi/

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, "Fact Sheet on the Accident at Three Mile Island." This updating adds to its list of sources J. Samuel Walker, Three Mile Island: A Nuclear Crisis in Historical Perspective (University of California Press, 2004), an excellent, extensively researched account of the crisis as experienced by the public and dealt with by public officials.
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/3mile-isle.html/

Website of Three Mile Island Alert, "a non-profit citizens' organization dedicated to the promotion of safe-energy alternatives to nuclear power and is especially critical of the Three Mile Island nuclear plant." Site includes "What's Wrong With the NRC's 2004 Fact Sheet on the TMI Accident?"
http://www.tmia.com/

Description of the Three Mile Island (TMI-2) Recovery and Decontamination Collection in the Engineering Library of the Pennsylvania State University, with references to books, journals, and bibliographies.
http://www.libraries.psu.edu/tmi/

The website of the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory.
http://www.inel.gov/

U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Environmental Management, "Nuclear Age Timeline," contains much information and sources for more.
http://web.em.doe.gov/timeline/

U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration, offers much information about nuclear, as well as other forms of energy.
http://www.eia.doe.gov/

The Nuclear Energy Institute: "The purposes of the Institute are to foster and encourage the continued safe utilization and development of nuclear energy."
http://www.nei.org/

The American Nuclear Society, an association "to develop and safely apply nuclear science and technology for public benefit."
http://www.ans.org/

A great deal of information on nuclear power plants around the world may be found at:
http://www.nucleartourist.com/

The website of Living on Earth, a weekly environmental news and information program distributed by National Public Radio, has a helpful set of Three Mile Island related links as well as transcripts of its many programs relating to nuclear power.
http://www.loe.org/

Lastly, the serious researcher seeking a deeper understanding of the import of the accident must turn to the archived papers of the Governor of Pennsylvania, Richard ("Dick") Thornburgh, http://www.library.pitt.edu/thornburgh/collection/series11.html, and of the President of the United States, Jimmy Carter, http://www.jimmycarterlibrary.org/library/arc.phtml.