OUTSIDE. >> I DON’T THINK ANYBODY REALLY KNEW HOW DANGEROUS IT WAS. >> THERE WAS AN INDICATION OF A HYDROGEN EXPLOSION IN THE CONTAINMENT. >> THEY EITHER DIDN’T KNOW WHAT THEY WERE DOING, OR THEY LIED. >> THAT'S WHAT WAS SO FRUSTRATING, BECAUSE WE HAD THIS FEELING THAT WE WERE NOT GETTING THE FACTS. >> EVERYTHING POSSIBLE IS BEING DONE AND WILL BE DONE TO COPE WITH THESE PROBLEMS. THE RADIATION LEVELS ARE BEING MONITORED VERY CAREFULLY. >> EVERY DOSE OF RADIATION IS AN OVERDOSE. >> PREGNANT WOMEN AND TEENAGE CHILDREN TO LEAVE THE AREA AND A FIVE MILE RADIUS. >> I DO THINK THE PLANT IS UNSAFE. >> WE’RE NOT BAILING THEM OUT AGAIN, THIS IS AN OLD ANTIQUE THAT NEEDS TO BE RETIRED AND CLEANED UP. >> I’M HOPEFUL THAT WE DON’T CLOSE. >> IT WOULD DEFINITELY BE A CHANGE TO THE HORIZON. >> AS LONG AS MAN MAKES EQUIPMENT, NOTHING IS COMPLETELY SAFE. >> IT COULD HAVE VERY EASILY GONE THE OTHER WAY. JANELLE: GOOD EVENING. I’M JANELLE STELSON. RON: AND I’M RON MARTIN. TODAY MARKS THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE PARTIAL MELTDOWN AT THE 3 MILE ISLAND NUCLEAR POWER PLANT, THE WORST NUCLEAR ACCIDENT IN UNITED STATES HISTORY. JANELLE: TONIGHT WE ARE TAKING AN IN-DEPTH LOOK AT THE CRISIS, AS REMEMBERED BY THOSE WHO LIVED THROUGH IT. WE ARE ALSO LOOKING AT THE FUTURE OF TMI, WHICH IS SET TO CLOSE LATER THIS YEAR IF LAWMAKERS DO NOT STEP IN TO SAVE IT. RON: THE INCIDENT BROUGHT WITH IT NATIONAL ATTENTION, INCLUDING A VISIT TO THE PLANT BY THEN PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER, AND IT LEFT MANY IN THE SUSQUEHANNA VALLEY WITH MEMORIES THEYWILL NEVER FORGET. >> THE FOUR TOWERS RISING FROM THE MIDDLE OF THE RIVER ARE UNMISTAKABLE FEATURES IN SUSQUEHANNA VALLEY LANDSCAPE. THEY’RE A SOURCE OF ENERGY, A PLACE TO WORK FOR HUNDREDS, AND A LANDMARK THAT YOU CAN SEE FOR MILES. BUT FROM HIS HOUSE IN MIDDLETOWN AND HER FARM IN ELIZABETHTOWN, DON HOSSLER AND PATTIE LONGENECKER DON’T JUST SEE THE COOLING TOWERS WHEN THEY GLANCE AT THE HORIZON THEY SEE THE SHADOWS THOSE TOWERS CAST, A DARKNESS THAT HAS COME TO SYMBOLIZE A FLASHPOINT IN THEIR LIVES, ONE HIGHLIGHTED BY PANIC, CONFUSION, AND LIES. AND 40 YEARS LATER, THEY ARE STILL FEELING THE EFFECTS. >> IN MY MIND, IT’S JUST A VERY DARK NOTE TO OUR HISTORY HERE. >> DON HOSSLER DOES NOT NEED TO THINK TOO HARD AT ALL TO BRING BACK MEMORIES OF THE 3 MILE ISLAND NUCLEAR ACCIDENT. THE PLANT’S COOLING TOWERS LOOM JUST BEYOND HIS FRONT LAWN. HE’S WATCHED THE STEAM BILLOWING FROM THE TOWERS FOR SO MANY YEARS THAT HE NOW USES IT AT A WEATHER VANE. >> IF IT’S GOING DOWN RIVER, THAT’S A SIGN IT’S GOING TO BE A NICE DAY. USUALLY IF THE PLUME IS GOING UP THE RIVER, THAT’S AN INDICATOR YOU HAVE SOME BAD WEATHER COMING. IT’S PRETTY RELIABLE. VERY RELIABLE, ACTUALLY. >> BUT HE REMEMBERS WHEN WHAT WAS HAPPENING ON THE ISLAND WAS ANYTHING BUT RELIABLE AND IT CHANGED HIM FOREVER. MARCH 28, 1979 WAS A BEAUTIFUL DAY. SUN SHINING, CLEAR SKIES, AS DON REMEMBERS IT. HE WAS AT WORK. HIS WIFE, GAIL, WAS PLANNING ON GOING SHOPPING WHEN HER MOTHER CAME OUT OF THE HOUSE SAYING THERE WAS JUST AN INCIDENT AT THREE MILE ISLAND. SHE WAS CARRYING A SUITCASE. >> GAIL SHE SAID, “I’M TAKING IT WITH ME, JUST IN CASE WE CAN’T COME BACK.” AND THAT REALLY SHOCKED ME, BECAUSE I HADN’T HEARD ANYTHING ABOUT IT. >> THE HOSSLERS DON’T REMEMBER MUCH ELSE HAPPENING THAT DAY OR EVEN THE NEXT. LITTLE DID THEY KNOW AT THE TIME, BUT ON THE ISLAND, A NUCLEAR CRISIS WAS GROWING. >> WE WERE FOLLOWING THE NEWS ON THURSDAY. OH, THEY HAVE AN ISSUE DOWN THERE, BUT YOU TRUST PEOPLE. YOU TRUST AN INDUSTRY. AND THEN ON FRIDAY, THINGS ? -- THINGS REALLY MOVED FAST. >> THAT’S WHEN A VOLUNTARY EVACUATION ORDER WAS ISSUED, GEARED TOWARD PREGNANT WOMEN AND FAMILIES WITH YOUNG CHILDREN. THE HOSSLERS, WITH THEIR 18-MONTH-OLD DAUGHTER, AMY, DECIDED TO PACK UP AND LEAVE THEIR HOME. THEIR PARENTS STAYED BEHIND. >> IT WAS GUT-WRENCHING, I’LL TELL YA. WE JUST COULDN’T BELIEVE THIS WAS HAPPENING, YOU KNOW. >> MORE THAN 100,000 PEOPLE LEFT THE AREA AS THE EVACUATION ZONE WAS EVENTUALLY EXPANDED TO A 20-MILE RADIUS OF THE NUCLEAR POWER NEWS COVERAGE AT THE TIME CAPTURED THE CONCERNS AND PANIC AS RUMORS OF RADIATION LEAKS AND A GROWING HYDROGEN BUBBLE INSIDE THE PLANT SWIRLED. >> THE RADIATION IT MIGHT BE THROUGH THE AIR. WE WERE AFRAID TO COME OUTSIDE. >> EVERY DOSE OF RADIATION IS AN OVERDOSE. THERE IS NO THRESHOLD. A LITTLE OF THAT RADIATION DOES A LITTLE HARM. MORE OF IT DOES MORE HARM. >> I’M SCARED TO DEATH. I DON’T CARE WHAT THEY SAY UP THERE. AND I’M PRETTY CLOSE. I’M PRACTICALLY SITTING ON THAT PLANT. AND I’M LEAVING. >> SEVEN MILES DOWN THE ROAD AND DOWNWIND OF TMI, PATTIE LONGENECKER REMEMBERS MAKING THE SAME DECISION. SHE AND HER FAMILY LEFT THEIR FARM AND ANIMALS IN THE CARE OF A NEIGHBOR AND DROVE SOUTH TO VIRGINIA, UNTIL THE SITUATION ON THE ISLAND CALMED DOWN. >> IT WAS JUST A VERY TRAUMATIC TIME FOR PEOPLE TO HAVE TO FEEL THEY MUST LEAVE A PLACE THAT HAS BEEN THEIR HOME, NOT KNOWING CAN WE RETURN? >> BUT PATTIE COULDN’T STAY IN SELF-IMPOSED SEQUESTER FOR LONG. THE DAY PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER VISITED THE POWER PLANT, WHICH WAS 4 DAYS AFTER THE INITIAL INCIDENT, PATTIE AND HER FAMILY CAME BACK HOME. >> YOU SAW TENSION BUILDING IN EVERY SECTOR AND WE FELT COMING HOME, WE NEEDED TO LEARN MORE IF THIS IS OUR HOME, THIS CLOSE, 3 MILES FROM 3 MILE ISLAND. >> SHE WANTED TO GET HER OWN INFORMATION BECAUSE THE INFORMATION COMING FROM THE ISLAND AND THE UTILITY SEEMED TO KEEP CHANGING AND WAS, AT TIMES, COMBATIVE. >> AS LONG AS MAN MAKES THE EQUIPMENT, NOTHING IS PERFECTLY SAFE, AND WE’RE NOT SAYING ANY NUCLEAR PLANT OR ANY PIECE OF EQUIPMENT THAT MAN USES. >> EVER SINCE THE ORIGINAL ACCIDENT WEDNESDAY MORNING, NON-CONTRADICTORY INFORMATION HAS BEEN HARD TO COME BY. >> I HAVE SPENT VIRTUALLY THE LAST 36 HOURS TRYING TO SEPARATE FACT FROM FICTION ABOUT THIS SITUATION. >> DON HOSSLER WAS FEELING JUST AS PATTIE WAS AT THE TIME, CONFUSED BY THE INFORMATION, BETRAYED BY THOSE IN CHARGE AND DESTINED TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. >> THEY ACTUALLY EITHER LIED TO US, OR THEY DIDN’T KNOW WHAT THEY WERE DOING. THAT’S HOW I FEEL ABOUT IT TO THIS DAY. >> HE STARTED GOING TO TOWN MEETINGS ORGANIZED BY HIS NEIGHBORS NEAR THE TOWERS TO LEARN MORE ABOUT NUCLEAR ENERGY AND THE ACCIDENT. THEY DEMANDED ANSWERS, EVEN SUED THE UTILITY, AND THEIR CASE WENT ALL THE WAY TO THE U.S. SUPREME COURT. >> WE WEREN’T ACTIVISTS. WE JUST STARTED DOING THINGS THAT WE THOUGHT WAS THE RIGHT THING TO DO. >> SOME OF THE MEETINGS, LIKE THIS ONE AT THE LIBERTY FIRE HALL, BECAME CONTENTIOUS AS RESIDENTS STILL FELT LIKE THEY WEREN’T BEING TOLD THE TRUTH NEARLY A YEAR AFTER THE ACCIDENT. IT WAS THROUGH THESE MEETINGS WHERE DON AND PATTIE MET. AND THEY STILL MEET EVERY YEAR WITH OTHER SURVIVORS, AS THEY CALL THEMSELVES, OF THE ACCIDENT. AND THEY STILL WANT ANSWERS, NAMELY WHAT ARE THE LONG-TERM MEDICAL EFFECTS OF THE RELEASE OF RADIATION THAT HAPPENED DURING THE INCIDENT? >> IN ANOTHER 10 YEARS, A LOT OF US WILL BE GONE. AND SO WHO WILL PICK UP THE BALL? AND IF WE COULD SOLVE SOME OF THIS NOW, IT WOULD SEEM TO ME TO MAKE SUCH SENSE. >> SO, 40 YEARS LATER, WHAT HAPPENED AT THREE MILE ISLAND IS MORE THAN JUST A MEMORY. BOTH DON AND PATTIE SAID THEIR EXPERIENCE WITH TMI MADE THEM MORE SKEPTICAL OF PEOPLE AND LESS TRUSTING OF AUTHORITY. YET BOTH STILL LIVE IN THE HOMES THEY LIVED IN DURING THE DISASTER. NEITHER HAS LEFT BECAUSE THEY LIKE THE COMMUNITY. THIS IS THEIR HOME, EVEN WITH THE REMINDER OF THE ACCIDENT ALWAYS JUST A GLANCE AWAY. BUT THEY’VE LEARNED A LESSON. >> IF IT HAPPENS AGAIN, WE’RE NOT STICKING AROUND. WE’RE OUTTA HERE. RON: SO WHAT EXACTLY HAPPENED INSIDE THE FACILITIES AT THREE MILE ISLAND THAT CAUSED SUCH A PANIC 40 YEARS AGO? THE UNIT 2 REACTOR HAD BEEN UP AND RUNNING FOR LESS THAN A YEAR WHEN THE PARTIAL MELTDOWN OCCURRED. EXPERTS SAY IT WAS A MIX OF MECHANICAL FAILURES AND HUMAN ERRORS THAT LED TO THE INCIDENT, AND THAT IT COULD HAVE BEEN MUCH WORSE. THE INCIDENT BEGAN AT AROUND 4:00 IN THE MORNING ON WEDNESDAY, MARCH 28. ACCORDING TO THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION, AT ABOUT THAT TIME, WATER PUMP FAILURES PREVENTED STEAM GENERATORS FROM REMOVING THE HEAT PRODUCED BY THE NUCLEAR CHAIN REACTION I THE UNIT 2 REACTOR. REMOVING THIS HEAT IS ESSENTIAL TO PREVENT REACTOR DAMAG WHEN THE COOLING WATER PUMPS STOPPED, THE REACTOR SHUT DOWN AUTOMATICALLY AS IT WAS DESIGNED TO DO. HOWEVER, RELIEF VALVES THAT HELP LOWER PRESSURE IN THE REACTOR DIDN’T CLOSE PROPERLY AND PRESSURE CONTINUED TO DROP, ALLOWING THE COOLING WATER TO ESCAPE OUT FROM THE TOP OF THE REACTO REACTOR OPERATORS MADE MATTERS WORSE WHEN THEY TURNED OFF THE COOLING PUMPS AFTER THEIR COMPUTERS GAVE THEM CONFUSING INFORMATION ABOUT THE SITUATION. THIS CAUSED THE NUCLEAR FUEL TO OVERHEAT EVENTUALLY IT BECAME SO HOT THE METAL TUBES THAT HELD THE FUEL DISINTEGRATED, AND STARTED TO CREATE HYDROGEN GA >> TAKEN SAMPLES OF THE CURRENT CONTAINMENT ATMOSPHERE. THEY INDICATE ABOUT 1.7% HYDROGEN IN THE CONTAINMENT AT THIS TIME. RON: THE NRC DISPATCHED A TEAM OF EXPERTS AS SOON AS NEWS OF THE ACCIDENT REACHED AUTHORITIES. BY MIDDAY, THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY FOUND RADIATION IN THE AIR ABOVE THE PLANT. >> THEY MERELY SEND PEOPLE OUT TO THE BOUNDARY AND THE GOALS WERE BECAUSE THE WIND WAS BLOWING IN THE DIRECTION, TO TAKE READINGS. THEY DETECTED A SMALL AMOUNT OF BIOTIME, RADIOACTIVE IODINE ON THE GROUND. JANELLE: BY EVENING, OPERATORS RESTORED COOLING WATER TO THE CORE AND THE REACTOR APPEARED STABLE. BUT WITHIN A SHORT TIME, NEW WORRIES EMERGED ABOUT THE HYDROGEN GAS THAT WAS CREATED DURING THE PARTIAL MELTDOWN. >> THERE WAS AN INDICATION OF A HYDROGEN EXPLOSION AND HAVE CONTAINMENT ON WEDNESDAY, 10 HOURS AFTER THE EVENT. RON: A LARGE BUBBLE OF THE GAS WAS LODGED AT THE TOP OF THE CONTAINER THAT HELD THE REACTOR FUEL. EXPERTS WORRIED THE HYDROGEN BUBBLE MIGHT EXPLODE. AT THAT TIME, GOVERNOR DICK THORNBURGH ADVISED PREGNANT WOMEN AND SCHOOL AGED CHILDREN IN A FIVE MILE RADIUS TO EVACUATE. >> IN THE INTEREST OF TAKING EVERY PRECAUTIO I’M ADVISING THOSE WHO MIGHT BE PARTICULARLY SUSCEPTIBLE TO ANY EFFECTS OF RADIATION TO LEAVE THE AREA WITHIN A FIVE MILE RADIUS OF THE THREE MILE ISLAND FACILITY UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. RON: THE CRISIS ENDED FOUR DAYS LATER ON SUNDAY APRIL 1, WHEN EXPERTS DETERMINED THAT THE HYDROGEN BUBBLE COULD NOT EXPLODE BECAUSE OF A LACK OF OXYGEN THAT’S NEEDED FOR COMBUSTION. AS A RESULT OF THE INCIDENT, THE REACTOR COOLANT SYSTEM HAD TO BE DRAINED. THE RADIOACTIVE WATER HAD TO BE DECONTAMINATED AND EVAPORATED. AND THE RADIOACTIVE REACTOR FUEL HAD TO BE BE SHIPPED OFF SITE. THE CLEANUP WENT ON UNTIL 1990 AND COST ALMOST A BILLION DOLLARS. IT STILL REMAINS THE WORST NUCLEAR ACCIDENT IN U.S. HISTORY. TODAY, THE UNIT 2 REACTOR IS PERMANENTLY SHUT DOWN. AND NOW, UNIT 1 IS SCHEDULED TO CLOSE IN SEPTEMBER BECAUSE OF THE DWINDLING MARKET FOR NUCLEAR POWER. COMING UP LATER IN OUR SPECIAL, WE TAKE A LOOK AT THE FUTURE OF THREE MILE ISLAND, AND THE DEBATE OVER WHETHER LAWMAKERS SHOULD STEP IN TO SAVE I JANELLE: WHAT WAS HAPPENING AT TMI LED TO TOUGH CHOICES FOR FAMILIES IN THE AREA INCLUDING NEWS 8’S LORI BURKHOLDER. >> I WAS IN 7TH GRADE WHEN THE ACCIDENT HAPPENED. THERE I AM, RIGHT THERE. WE WERE TOLD WAS TO COVER UP ALL OF OUR SKIN, BECAUSE THEY DIDN’T KNOW WHAT WAS IN THE AIR. >> WE COULD HAVE LOST OUR ENTIRE TOWN. WITHIN 5 MILE RADIUS OF THE PLANT, THEY WERE TELLING US. JANELLE: COMING UP NEXT, HEAR FROM LORI AND HER FAMILY ABOUT HOW THEY MADE THE DECISION TO EVACUATE OR STAY IN THEIR MIDDLETOWN HOME DURING THE CRIS