Three Mile Island Accident
At 4:00am, March 28th, 1979, (one year to the minute after the reactor’s start-up) the main feedwater pumps of the TMI-2 reactor at The Three Mile Island Nuclear Plant FAILED. Marking the begining of the most significant nuclear energy related accident in American history. Operators in the control room were relying on faulty, cheaply constructed equipment, and ambigious gauges and LEDs to determine the cause of the problem, which was a loss of coolant accident, however this was not determined untill after the 6am shift change, over 165 minutes after the initial problem sequence, that the site radiation alarm sounded and a “Site Area Emergency” was called.
PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD HAZ MAT RADIOACTIVE PLACARD SIGN
Incidently Easton is also the home to the Crayola Factory (which you need reservations to go to in the summer).
Purple Fluorite, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
When the series of events leading to the accidnet are looked at step by step, the concept of murphy’s law comes to mind. While the accident itself resulted in little (if any) scientifically documented health problems to the public, it irreversibly changed not only the publics opinion on nuclear powerplants, it also managed to redirect the course of commercialized power generating in the United States. At the time of the accident 129 nuclear power plants had been approved for construction in the US; of those, only 53 were ever completed.
We have collected in Prospect Park several times, you can read about our trip there last summer, or see a video of us collecting a couple years ago.
Pyrite Cubes in Matrix - Pennsylvania
Wavellite, Mount Pleasant Mills, Pennsylvania
Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Light TMI Coffee Mug
