alternatehistory.com

On March 28, 1979, TMI-2, one of the two reactors at the Three Mile Island complex, was shut down for repair after the main coolant pump failed. Even though this was an extraordinarily dangerous situation, all three auxiliary pumps immediately took over, pumping waste heat away from the reactor and certainly preventing a catastrophic meltdown that would have killed or injured hundreds of people downwind. After the anti-nuclear movement's dire predictions, this anticlimax took the wind out of their sales, and nuclear power currently, as we all know, provides 40% of North America's electricity, 60% of Europe's, and over 80% of Asia's.

How would a meltdown at TMI-2 have changed all this?
Top