South Bend, April 1, 1979
The Accident
An industrial accident happened on the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, situated on the Susquehanna River near Harrisburg, the capital of Pennsylvania. The question whether it was caused by human error or a faulty structural design is still open. In any case, it is the hitherto most serious accident of the nuclear industry in America. Thousands of people had to be evacuated to protect them from radiation fall-out. If it should not be possible to cool the damaged reactor, a meltdown could occur. At this time, it is being considered to evacuate the population within a 20 mile radius. About half a million people would be affected by such a measure.
[Transl: The accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant happened on March 28, 1979.]
April 16, 1979
The accident on Three Mile Island has gone by better than feared. As it had been possible to slowly cool down the reactor, a catastrophe was avoided. There was a panic-like uproar in the area surrounding Three Mile Island, but the American public as a whole reacted to this nuclear crisis with surprising restraint and a realistic assessment of the situation. At the moment there would be no alternative to nuclear energy. There are presently 70 nuclear power plants in operation in America and the construction of 100 more is being planned. A big city like Chicago gets 45% of its electric power from nuclear energy.
Addendum
[The American nuclear industry suffered a considerable setback by the accident on Three Mile Island. The construction of several nuclear power plants was suspended and the planning for new plants reduced. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued strict security rules for the construction and operation of nuclear power plants. Fortunately, since 1979 no major incident has happened. In the area around Chicago one lives near several nuclear power plants without fear that something would go wrong.]