ShareThisEven now, 30 years later, when Harold Denton looks back on his time at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant, what he remembers is how odd it all seemed.
Being ordered to call the president twice a day and brief him on the worst nuclear accident in the nation's history. Standing daily before a pack of hungry reporters and trying to explain nuclear terminology. Trying to reassure a scared and skeptical public that the accident posed no danger to their health.
"My three weeks on site (at Three Mile Island) were challenging, hectic and, at times, surreal," Denton recalls.
Denton was working for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in Bethesda, Md., when President Jimmy Carter tapped him as his point man on the Three Mile Island crisis, which unfolded 30 years ago this week.
Denton and others involved in the government's response to the nuclear mishap told a congressional panel on Tuesday that nuclear power plants are safer today than ever.
Federal and state governments, as well as public utilities, also are much better prepared to deal with an emergency should a similar one occur today, Denton assured the Senate Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety.
The Three Mile Island crisis began on March 28, 1979, when a series of mechanical failures and operator errors at the plant near Middletown, Pa., led to a partial meltdown of one of the nuclear reactor cores.
The accident revealed weaknesses in the licensing and operation of nuclear plants and brought about a number of improvements at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and in the nuclear power industry.
Two days after the accident, Denton arrived at the site. When his helicopter landed, he was instructed to call the White House. President Carter had chosen him as his point man on the accident and asked to be kept informed of everything that was happening.
"He wanted to be called at a quarter of 8 every morning and quarter to 4 every afternoon and be briefed," Denton said. "He was very hands-on. ... With his nuclear engineering background, he could understand the context of the matter."
Looking back, Denton said he remains impressed with the way Carter and then-Pennsylvania Gov. Dick Thornburgh appreciated the gravity of the unfolding crisis and how their direct personal involvement led to remarkable cooperation between the federal and state governments.
"Bureaucracy was set aside," said Denton, who now lives in Knoxville, Tenn.
Three Mile Island led to a number of changes that have significantly reduced the risks of a serious nuclear accident today, Denton said.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, for example, is now responsible for off-site planning for nuclear emergencies and reviewing state emergency plans. Nuclear power plants are designed to minimize the kind of events that could lead to a crisis, and plant operators are trained to recognize potential problems and take corrective action, Denton said.
Three Mile Island also showed how important it is for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to translate technical information into language that everyone can understand. Yet even today, the agency needs to do a better job of communicating with the public, Denton said.
"I don't think there has been a real advance in that area," he said.
(E-mail Michael Collins of Scripps Howard News Service at collinsm(at)shns.com)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)
