“What escaped at Three Mile Island was not only radiation, but, more importantly for the nuclear power industry, public confiÂdence in technology and technocracy,†report Cantelon and WilÂliams in their detailed account of the response of the Department of Energy to America’s worst civilian nuclear power accident.
Â
What happened at Three Mile Island was a technological failure of monstrous proportions. “Yet,†the authors contend, “the serious extent of the accident was caused by human error: technocrats blundered, lost control of technology, and, refusing to admit it,gave confusing, inconsistent, and jargon-laden explanations.†There was a welter of information and misinformation. To sift out the truth that would enable them to write the history of this contemÂporary event, Cantelon and Williams relied on unpublished archiÂval materials—including logs of scientists and government officials—on oral interviews with participants, and on reports of other government agencies. The result is a significant history, one that shows how scientists and politicians responded to the unÂbelievable and unexpected as they tried to deal with a highly techÂnical event in the glare of television lights and under the inquisitive and fearful eyes of the public.
Â
The danger was never real, yet for the nation and certainly for the immediate community around Three Mile Island, risk perÂceived was risk endured. Many of the residents of what became a “war zone†will never be the same, though radiation never touched them. Imagination and unconscious fears were far more important than any accurate perception of risk after a Nuclear Regulatory Commission official usedthe term meltdown at a Friday afternoon news conference.