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#1
The Tailgate / Today in history 3-28
Last post by remrogers - Today at 10:12:16 AM
1979
March 28
Nuclear disaster at Three Mile Island

At 4 a.m. on March 28, 1979, one of the worst accidents in the history of the U.S. nuclear power industry begins when a pressure valve in the Unit-2 reactor at Three Mile Island fails to close. Cooling water, contaminated with radiation, drained from the open valve into adjoining buildings, and the core began to dangerously overheat.

The Three Mile Island nuclear power plant was built in 1974 on a sandbar on Pennsylvania's Susquehanna River, just 10 miles downstream from the state capitol in Harrisburg. In 1978, a second state-of-the-art reactor began operating on Three Mile Island, which was lauded for generating affordable and reliable energy in a time of energy crises.

After the cooling water began to drain out of the broken pressure valve on the morning of March 28, 1979, emergency cooling pumps automatically went into operation. Left alone, these safety devices would have prevented the development of a larger crisis. However, human operators in the control room misread confusing and contradictory readings and shut off the emergency water system. The reactor was also shut down, but residual heat from the fission process was still being released. By early morning, the core had heated to over 4,000 degrees, just 1,000 degrees short of meltdown. In the meltdown scenario, the core melts, and deadly radiation drifts across the countryside, fatally sickening a potentially great number of people.

As the plant operators struggled to understand what had happened, the contaminated water was releasing radioactive gases throughout the plant. The radiation levels, though not immediately life-threatening, were dangerous, and the core cooked further as the contaminated water was contained and precautions were taken to protect the operators. Shortly after 8 a.m., word of the accident leaked to the outside world. The plant's parent company, Metropolitan Edison, downplayed the crisis and claimed that no radiation had been detected off plant grounds, but the same day inspectors detected slightly increased levels of radiation nearby as a result of the contaminated water leak. Pennsylvania Governor Dick Thornburgh considered calling an evacuation.

Finally, at about 8 p.m., plant operators realized they needed to get water moving through the core again and restarted the pumps. The temperature began to drop, and pressure in the reactor was reduced. The reactor had come within less than an hour of a complete meltdown. More than half the core was destroyed or molten, but it had not broken its protective shell, and no radiation was escaping. The crisis was apparently over.

Two days later, however, on March 30, a bubble of highly flammable hydrogen gas was discovered within the reactor building. The bubble of gas was created two days before when exposed core materials reacted with super-heated steam. On March 28, some of this gas had exploded, releasing a small amount of radiation into the atmosphere. At that time, plant operators had not registered the explosion, which sounded like a ventilation door closing. After the radiation leak was discovered on March 30, residents were advised to stay indoors. Experts were uncertain if the hydrogen bubble would create further meltdown or possibly a giant explosion, and as a precaution Governor Thornburgh advised "pregnant women and pre-school age children to leave the area within a five-mile radius of the Three Mile Island facility until further notice." This led to the panic the governor had hoped to avoid; within days, more than 100,000 people had fled surrounding towns.

On April 1, President Jimmy Carter arrived at Three Mile Island to inspect the plant. Carter, a trained nuclear engineer, had helped dismantle a damaged Canadian nuclear reactor while serving in the U.S. Navy. His visit achieved its aim of calming local residents and the nation. That afternoon, experts agreed that the hydrogen bubble was not in danger of exploding. Slowly, the hydrogen was bled from the system as the reactor cooled.

At the height of the crisis, plant workers were exposed to unhealthy levels of radiation, but no one outside Three Mile Island had their health adversely affected by the accident and no one died as a result of the accident. Nonetheless, the incident greatly eroded the public's faith in nuclear power. The unharmed Unit-1 reactor at Three Mile Island, which was shut down during the crisis, did not resume operation until 1985. Cleanup continued on Unit-2 until 1990, but it was too damaged to be rendered usable again.

#2
The Tailgate / Re: S'posed to get my biggest ...
Last post by Todd Rahm - Today at 10:02:13 AM
Glad to hear you're back in action!!!
#3
Non Hunting/Fishing Photos / Re: BUSTEDDDDDDD!
Last post by FinsnFur - Today at 05:30:08 AM
He said, "mumg busft a golmcap zimmperhuk
#4
The Tailgate / Re: S'posed to get my biggest ...
Last post by HuntnCarve - Today at 02:00:23 AM
That's great news Clyde!  Won't be long before you'll be able to handle some outdoor adventures (at your own pace).  Heal up, and listen to the doctors.  We'll keep you in our prayers.
#5
The Tailgate / Re: S'posed to get my biggest ...
Last post by Hawks Feather - Yesterday at 03:30:22 PM
Great news that you got out a day early and I am sure that it was because of the progress you made. Thanks for the tip on the chair. I don't need it yet, but probably will in time. I also like the shirt idea.
#6
Non Hunting/Fishing Photos / Re: BUSTEDDDDDDD!
Last post by Hawks Feather - Yesterday at 03:20:35 PM
Pretty true. His lights have gone out several times.
#7
Non Hunting/Fishing Photos / BUSTEDDDDDDD!
Last post by nastygunz - Yesterday at 01:30:28 PM
#8
The Tailgate / Re: S'posed to get my biggest ...
Last post by nastygunz - Yesterday at 01:29:56 PM
Survive adapt overcome! It seems like you have things under control sir!
#9
The Tailgate / Re: S'posed to get my biggest ...
Last post by Okanagan - Yesterday at 10:41:53 AM
Am awake and trying out my computer for about the first time, so will update this saga for those who have prayed for me and cared enough to follow. 

They let me out of the hospital one day early, either healing well or tired of putting up with me. They have a good team of confident, competent people in the cardiac surgery, with good morale and it always shows.  I go back for my first follow-up exam tomorrow.  Have been looking forward to hitting a good BBQ joint near the hospital, but am just not up to it yet.

LOTS of procedures and protocols, four walks per day, myriad home tests of blood pressure, glucose, etc. to measure and write into a log, etc. etc. Full time tiring job to get it all done.

For anyone considering similar, herewith a few changes I have made to their after-surgery instructions, which I consider improvements.  First, my power lift/recliner chair eliminates the most painful, incision stressing  problem, which is getting into and out of bed. I painlessly get up and lie down. I sleep in it, with no twisting nor turning, rolling,

Second, putting on clothes.  This young physical therapy fellow spent a lot of time showing me how to put on a T-shirt etc.without damaging the wound. I looked at him without a word and did the excecise, but I thought "If I have to spend 5 minutes of painful conortions doing a Klingon Tea Ceremony to put on a T-shirt, I just won't wear a T-shirt."  I don't.  I have to put on a freshly washed shirt after each daily special shower.  I bought a half dozen men's short sleeved shirts from Goodwill in size 3x or larger, powered laundered them and put them on backward, with buttons down the back.  That puts a fresh clean shirt covering the wound.  It's an easy and painless way to acheive the same goal. I usually don't button or will have my wife button one on the back.  I'm home in my house and have asked for no visitors for awhile.  Who cares what I look like? :biggrin:

We dredged up a stadium blanket, simply arm sleeves in a big flat fleece blanket, and I flop that over me for warmth and stylish modesty when sitting or reclining in my power chair.

Y'all come visit and bring some whitetail tenderloin... but not for awhile yet :laf:
#10
The Tailgate / Today in history 3-27
Last post by remrogers - Yesterday at 09:34:46 AM
1964
March 27
Strongest earthquake in U.S. history rocks Alaska

The strongest earthquake in American history, measuring 9.2 on the Richter scale, slams southern Alaska, creating a deadly tsunami. Some 131 people were killed and thousands injured.

The massive earthquake had its epicenter about 12 miles north of Prince William Sound. Approximately 300,000 square miles of U.S., Canadian, and international territory were affected. Anchorage, Alaska's largest city, sustained the most property damage, with about 30 blocks of dwellings and commercial buildings damaged or destroyed in the downtown area. Fifteen people were killed or fatally injured as a direct result of the three-minute quake, and then the ensuing tsunami killed another 110 people.

The tidal wave, which measured over 100 feet at points, devastated towns along the Gulf of Alaska and caused carnage in British Columbia, Canada; Hawaii; and the West Coast of the United States, where 15 people died. Total property damage was estimated in excess of $400 million. The day after the quake, President Lyndon B. Johnson declared Alaska an official disaster area.