March 28, 1979 -- Three Mile Island

Charlottesville

March 28, 2022

The day that played an outsized role in my career.

I had forgotten that Unit 2 was a brand new reactor, having only operated for three months prior to the accident. Oops.

I had the privilege of working for Roger Mattson who is mentioned in the video. Harold Denton had worked for my father at Savannah River. I spent several years working for Roger helping justify the significant (- 10x +) cost increases and construction delays (years) that occurred due to the industry response to TMI.

As a result of TMI, there were many changes made at the NRC and in the industry. The plants became ever more complex with additional safety systems and the NRC became more stringent before granting an operating license, especially in the area of open items it would allow when plants entered operation.

I didn’t need my MBA to do this work but I thought it would be good experience to gain an in-depth understanding of nuclear construction and the regulation of nuke plants. I did not anticipate that utilities would abandon ordering new nuclear power plants. A CLM - career limiting move.

The videos below are good explanations of the sequence of events at TMI Unit 2 on the morning of March 28, 1979.