As a result of the accident at three mile island, many americans began to worry about nuclear power.
Very little, except the permanent shutdown of the damaged reactor. Many Americans lost faith in nuclear power.
The Three Mile Island incident refers to the accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear generating station. This accident presented with a mechanical failure that "cascaded" into a core meltdown as subsequent human errors and other mechanical failures combined to prevent the operators from correctly recognizing the problem and adequately dealing with it. And because of the nature of the accident, we've got a pair of answers for you on this one. The Three Mile Island (TMI) nuclear accident was caused by faulty equipment and also by incorrect (operator) response to the situation. Both of them. Here's the pat answer: Mechanical failure and operator errors in the wake of an initial mechanical failure caused the problems at Three Mile Island that resulted in the reactor core meltdown. There were a number of chances for the accident to be "cut off" before it got as bad as it did. But the combination of mechanical failure and human error put the plant on course for a core meltdown. And the core did, in fact, melt down. The operators should bear most of the burden for the accident. A link is provided to Wikipedia article on the TMI accident. A separate WikiAnswers question deals with the accident itself, and a link to it is provided as well as one to the Wikipedia post on the accident.
Basically, there was a coolant malfunction that caused the nuclear power plant to automatically shut down at 4am on March 28, 1979. At that point a release valve malfunctioned and did not close allowing the coolant to drain away and causing the decay heat in the core to not be removed correctly. To compound this problem, the user interface in the control room had very ambiguous warnings and the operators could not identify the problems with much speed. There was some radioactive gas released, but several research teams have determined cancer incidence has not increased in the surrounding area.
In 1979 there was an incident in one of the reactors at this site, where due to a faulty valve and faulty instrumentation, the fuel overheated and partially melted, due to inadequate cooling after a shutdown. It was a commercial disaster as the reactor was then a dead loss and has never operated since, but there was very little if any effect on the surrounding area or population.
Simpler : The worst accident in U.S. nuclear-reactor history
There was no disaster in 1976 although in 1979 there was a partial core meltdown in the nuclear powerplant on three mile island.
Instead of letting the automated shutdown systems fulfill their purposes, the reactor operators intervened and failed (miserably) causing a core meltdown (it literally got too hot)
Many Americans began to worry about nuclear power - Apex
Many Americans began to worry about nuclear power- Apex
Pennsylvania
Many Americans began to worry about nuclear power- Apex
The Three Mile Island accident was a nuclear meltdown which occurred at the Three Mile Island power plant in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States on March 28, 1979.
United States. In Pennsylvania.
Many Americans began to worry about nuclear power- Apex
Pennsylvania
There are no know deaths that can be conclusively linked to the three mile island incident, however many cases of cancer among residents of the accident zone may have been caused by it. It is impossible to tell which cases are a result of the accident, and which would have occured anyway.
Three Mile Island.
Three Mile Island.
Americans felt less safe after the accident at Three Mile Island. - APEX.
Many Americans began to worry about nuclear power- Apex
The Three Mile Island accident was a nuclear meltdown which occurred at the Three Mile Island power plant in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States on March 28, 1979.
Americans felt less safe after the accident at Three Mile Island.
dolphin
United States. In Pennsylvania.
The Three Mile Island accident in 1979