For decades the official position of the U.S. government and the nuclear industry is that very little radiation was released during the March 1979 partial meltdown of Three Mile Island. Unfortunately, that lie has been told so often it has become part of the “official science.” We “human dosimeters,” who live in the shadow of TMI, have long questioned “official science.”

Dear Friend,

March 28, 2019 marks the 40th Annversary of the Three Mile Island accident. It woke up millions to the dangers of nuclear power and remains one of the largest nuclear disasters in the world. But the terrible impacts of the partial meltdown, explosion, and releases of radiation on communities around TMI have always been downplayed, ignored, and simply covered up.
Survivors and community members are gathering to commemorate the accident over the next week, with events, activities, and protests in Harrisburg, PA and the surrounding area.

It was an early and sunny spring day in the Susquehanna River Valley 40 years ago. What possibly could go wrong?

I had been in Harrisburg all of five weeks on March 28, 1979, covering the statehouse for Ottaway Newspapers.

When I came to work in the Capitol newsroom that morning, I heard local media reports of a problem at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant.

On March 29 and March 30, 1979 the second and third days of the Three Mile Island nuclear accident, the situation at the damaged Unit 2 reactor spiraled out of control.

As a new reporter covering the statehouse for Ottaway Newspapers, I adapted to changing circumstances in what became the worst commercial nuclear accident in U.S. history.