Three Mile Island and Chernobyl were major nuclear disasters affecting thousands of people and contaminating large areas. Why havent plants of that type been shut down?
A6. Short answer: Three Mile Island (Pennsylvania, USA) was a severe accident that occurred in 1979. The accident destroyed the power-producing core of the light water power reactor but led to no release of radioactivity to the environment and no personal injuries or contamination. The Chernobyl (Ukraine) accident, which occurred in 1986, was indeed the most devastating in the history of nuclear power. It resulted in 28 radiation-induced fatalities within few months after the accident, evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people and contamination of vast territories of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. In both cases, the lessons learned from the accident were applied almost immediately by the world nuclear industry to modify similar plants, to improve personnel training and to improve operational management with the objective of avoid the repetition of similar a accident. These important steps led to considerable improvements in plant safety worldwide. Read more… Explanation: The accident
