The Three Mile Island accident was the largest nuclear accident to occur in the entire nuclear energy industry. The power station was named after the island it was situated on and was located in the Susquehanna River near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. At around 4:00 AM on March 28th, 1979, an automated valve in the Unit 2 reactor mistakenly closed, cutting off the water supply from the feedwater system, (the system that transfers heat from the water already circulating in the reactor core). This caused the reactor to shut down automatically.
Unfortunately, due to a series of equipment and instruments malfunctions, paired with multiple human errors and poor decisions led to a severe loss in liquid coolant from the reactor core. This led to the zirconium inside the fuel reacting violently to the superheated steam, forming a large accumulation of hydrogen gas. Very little of this and the radioactive gases actually made it out into the environment and they did not pose a threat to the surrounding environment.
Three Mile Island Power Station:
Sources: https://www.britannica.com/event/Three-Mile-Island-accident
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