Today is the 32nd anniversary of the Three Mile Island nuclear accident. Where were you on this date? At the time I was a high school kid in western Pennsylvania very worried about our relatives here in the Harrisburg area where I now reside.
Did we learn from it? I believe so. The United States operates the most reactors and I believe the safest reactors because of Three Mile Island. Also other issues were addressed at our plants post 9/11/01.
This is not, nor do I intend it to be, a dissertation on the use of nuclear power. However like all power generation it does affect our sport with things like the temp/dissolved oxygen content of the effluent discharge from the plants.
Did you know that the operators during the TMI accident released 40,000 gallons of untreated radioactively hot water directly into the Susquehanna River? It was one of those little items that were in a series of omissions, half truths and flat out lies we were told by the operating company during the accident. I have heard a lot of local legend about three legged frogs, two headed fish along with other tales that I have never seen verified. Still I wonder what effect it had on aquatic life in the river if any at all. Anyone know how to find out?
Uh-oh John it affected you. I didn’t say a word about three headed frogs but I did mention three legged frogs. Either you drank some of that nuclear water or you was a nippin on bamboozle’s canteen when he wan’t lookin.
Seriously though isn’t kind of scary that the spokesman for Met-Ed had the audacity to tell the press that he didn’t see why “we have to explain every detail to you” to the press? Watch the interview if you can because he was being quite arrogant about it. The reporters tore him up on the spot as well they should have.
If you need something to go with a meal of those two headed fish, you might try growin’ some fresh veggies with some of those radioactive seeds that washed up on Gilligan’s Island!
[LEFT]Look what my three eyes just spotted in the news closer to home, and just downriver from Gilligan’s (3 Mile) Island:
Lancaster City officials are scrambling to begin additional testing of drinking water drawn from the Susquehanna River to make sure it doesn’t have radioactivity or salty bromides from Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling.
“It’s a huge concern for us. It’s such a new animal for everyone in the state,” said Charlotte Katzenmoyer, the city’s public works director.
Her worries follow recent disclosures that wastewater used in underground fracturing in the Marcellus Shale formation can pick up naturally-occurring radioactivity.
Much of that wastewater is recycled and used again. But some is taken to municipal wastewater treatment plants, processed and released where it makes its way to rivers.
Also, the drilling water, when it comes back to the surface, has bromides, a salty substance common in seawater that can increase the production of cancer-causing compounds, known as THMs, when undergoing processing for drinking water.
THMs are strongly regulated.
The city tests weekly for levels of bromides and hasn’t seen any upticks, but “We haven’t analyzed it with an eye towards Marcellus Shale,” said John Holden, water production manager for the Lancaster Bureau of Water.
I think the fact that it happened…and fortunately we are still here to discuss the matter is a testament to how fortunate we were and hopefully we learned immensely from the experience. Nothing is 100% safe that provides our energy and comfort. My stove could malfunction and my home could explode tonight as I sleep. Am I going to disconnect all of my gas lines and switch to candles when I get home? Nope. I hear they cause house fires too
so nighthawk, how much radioactivity was released with that water and what was the isotope? how much radiation did the population receive as a result of the accident? half truths and inuendo is not restricted to the power companies.
Where was I at the time? Barksdale AFB, Bossier City, Louisiana, while my relatives were back in Pa. wondering when they were going to get the cheap electricity promised them when they agreed to allow that reactor to be built. They’re still waiting!!!
For those not familiar with the area, that is TMI. I lived in the shadows of the plant. There’s a question of when the actual event started. On Wednesday of that week I was attending a hospital conference in Hershey, PA and one of the speakers that evening was the governors wife. That evening we started hearing a rumor of something.
What I find somewhat bemusing today are the negative comments from our newscasters and government officials about the situation in Japan and the lack of information from the Japanese government and the nuclear plant operating company. Apparently neither is providing the public(local, national and international) with accurate and timely information. Let me tell you, at the time of TMI, the way we found out about what was really going on at TMI was through phone calls from our relatives and friends who were out of state and could get national news.
Kind of funny, we were moving to a new home about 150 miles away that coming weekend and had a rental truck. Needless to say we packed and left early. Good thing we had full gas tanks because the gas stations ran out quickly. We had to reurn in a few weks to get stuff we were unable to pack. I recall a few signs: ‘Hel* No I Won’t Glow’ and ‘Lights? We Don’t Need Lights!’
I was in highschool about 80 Miles north of there. And about 20 Miles East of the Susquehanna Nuke plant that was still under construction at the time. Most of the adults from that same time…that predicted horrible fallout…God bless em’ but they are at rest already (My parents included). And they were’t glowing when they were laid to rest far as I could tell.
Either you drank some of that nuclear water or you was a nippin on bamboozle’s canteen when he wan’t lookin.