Three Mile Island Accident Exposes the Risks of Nuclear Power (1979)

country to reconsider its commitment to nuclear power production. Correspondent Chris Koch was at the demonstration. They came from all over the country to the largest protest demonstration that Washington DC has seen since the Vietnam War and they represented one of the broadest coalitions of Americans ever assembled around a single issue. The demand for a total reassessment of our nation's nuclear

energy policy. Planning for the demonstration began three weeks after the nuclear power plant accident at Three Mile Island near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The sponsors who called themselves the May 6 Coalition represented over 200 consumer, labor, environmental and political organizations including clergy and laity concerned, the fellowship of reconciliation, the association of farm workers, sane, the gray panthers, the gay liberation movement and women striked for peace. Protests against nuclear bomb production and testing began in the 1950s but it was not until the end of the Vietnam War that nuclear energy became a focus for protest. Beginning as small actions against specific nuclear power plants or against plans to build them, nuclear protesters soon formed alliances like the clamshell, the Krab or the Abolony Alliance and began to coordinate regional

demonstrations. A week before this demonstration in Washington, 12,000 anti- nuclear demonstrators marched in Rocky Flats, Colorado and a few weeks before that, 30,000 protesters gathered in San Francisco. But never before in such large numbers and never before in the doorstep of the policy makers in Washington. One of the first speakers was unannounced but to many in the crowd he needed no introduction. Dr. Benjamin Spock whose child rearing advice made its impact on a whole generation of Americans. Today the anti-nuclear power movement has gone national. This is a tremendous gathering. Our job is to keep the movement going and to keep the movement growing. Don't let people tell you nothing does any good. The anti-Vietnam war movement eventually forced Lyndon Johnson out of office and that was no mean

feat. Keep demonstrating, keep writing letters, keep engaged in political activities. And after we get rid of the nuclear power, let's get rid of nuclear weapons. The language of the speeches was almost universally militant. The chance had the ring of determined protest and as the marchers poured out of the ellipse behind the White House and moved down Pennsylvania Avenue and masked ranks. The specter of Fremile Island marched with them. The accident at Fremile Island has triggered a new national debate on nuclear

energy. The experts still don't know exactly what happened inside plant reactor number two. We know that the reactor began operating on December 30th two days before the end of last year and just in time to qualify its owners metropolitan Edison for $40 million in federal tax credits and write-offs. The reactor was soon plagued with problems however it was closed down for two weeks in January because of leaks in the cooling system. On March 28th the morning of the accident two pumps in the cooling system failed entirely and the backup pumps had been shut down for repairs a major violation of nuclear regulatory commission rules. The pressure in the reactive fell, the temperature rose and the core containing the fuel was damaged. Engineers later said that pandemonium

struck the ordinarily calm control room but was it really a crisis? John Herbine of metropolitan Edison said no. We didn't injure anybody through this accident. We didn't overexpose anybody and we certainly didn't kill a single soul. I think number one they're safe. I think number two and the extra radiation as you call it that they're getting is a certainly minuscule and it's the kind of extra radiation you get when you get a dental x-ray or a chest x-ray and four troubles. We had a mere fraction of that. Everyone has a situation is under control and yes we know what we're doing and shortly the plant will be in a more stable condition than it is now. Our goal is to keep on. Two days later Harold Denton of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission arrived on the scene and gave a clearer estimate of the problem. This is easily the most serious accident in the life in the reactive program.

Well I think we know what we're doing yes but we've never had such extensive fuel damage before in any life.