Krypton-85 (85Kr36) was released at Three Mile Island.
It is estimated that the amount of radioactive gases released from the Three Mile Island Unit II incident in 1979 was less than 481 PBq (13 million curies) and that the amount of Iodine-131 released was less than 740 GBq (20 curies).
Three mile island was the site of the worst nuclear 'accident' in america's history. The reactor went into meltdown - releasing radioactive material into the atmosphere.
The half-life of the radioactive material, the type of decay process, and the initial quantity of radioactive material are physical factors that do not affect the amount of radiation emitted by a radioactive source. Radiation emission is solely determined by the intrinsic properties of the radioactive material itself.
After three half-lives, 12.5% of the radioactive isotope is remaining. This is because each half-life reduces the amount of radioactive material by half.
After three half-lives, 12.5% of the original radioactive material will remain. Each half-life reduces the amount of material by half, so after three half-lives the remaining material will be 0.5^3 = 0.125 or 12.5%.
Three Mile Island related to an incident which occurred in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania on March 28th, 1979. On this Wednesday morning, around the time of 4am, there was a partial nuclear meltdown which released radioactive gases and radioactive iodine into the environment.
A nuclear reactor exploded in 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine. The explosion released a large amount of radioactive material into the atmosphere, making it one of the worst nuclear disasters in history.
After the crisis was over this reactor was inspected and found to have undergone a very significant but partial meltdown. It was considered to be unrepairable and has sat idle since then, some cleanup was done and the material removed was disposed of as appropriate for radioactive hazardous material. The other undamaged reactors on the site continue to operate.
After three half-lives, only 1/8 (or 12.5%) of the original radioactive sample remains. This is because each half-life reduces the amount of radioactive material by half, so after three half-lives, you would have (1/2) * (1/2) * (1/2) = 1/8 of the original sample remaining.
When three-quarters of a radioactive isotope has decayed, it means that 1/4 (or 25%) of the original isotope remains. This corresponds to 2 half-lives, because each half-life halves the amount of radioactive material remaining.
Any nuclear accident such as 3 Mile Island can contaminate nearby forests. Radioactive strontium is released during nuclear decay, which can be taken up by plants, since it mimics calcium. This can later be ingested by people, making them sick.
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