I was 17 years old, and it was one of the scariest times in my life. It was a long drawn out affair, meaning that it was not just three or four days; the fear lasted for years and years because radiation doesn’t just go away. Radiation release occurred, and it is still here. TMI and the government covered it up and down played it. Way prior to The Accident At Three Mile Island, I remember the Government going into schools and spreading the good news of nuclear power and how safe and clean it was. They had a train car as a traveling museum off Harrisburg Pike in Lancaster, and a lot of the local kids went in to learn how clean and safe the magic energy was supposed to be.
I thought that the radiation caused my sunburn, and it really freaked me out.
A few days after the accident occurred, it was a smoking hot summer-like day; my buddies and I thought that the nuclear meltdown caused the heat. I remember getting sunburn at Buchanan Park watching the college evacuation. I thought that the radiation caused my sunburn, and it really freaked me out. There were unseasonably hot wind gusts, and rumor had it among the local youth that it was caused by TMI. Radiation was in the air.
So here I am, a kid having to deal with…two meltdowns
Thousands of people fled the area in terror; my dad (in a pending divorce from mother) split to Florida in a flash. He was going to be transferred there through his employer, IBM, so he decided to depart early. So here I am, a kid having to deal with fighting parents and a nuclear meltdown, two meltdowns.
I was seventeen and all alone.
I was in The Scouts for years, and I was really into the great outdoors. I loved to camp out, and I adored nature, so I was concerned that this monster in Middletown would ruin my passions. I was an activist against anything nuclear before, during and after TMI. I was harassed and ridiculed by family, friends, and people passing by for putting up protest signs that addressed the physical devastation radiation leaves in its wake. People in my neighborhood either left or stayed indoors. People were glued to the TV or radio listening to the constant reports of lies and deception. Most people that I knew were stuck here anyway, as they could not afford to leave, or if they had no place to go, or their employers were restrictive. Roads and hotels were allegedly full, and rumor had it that if the thing blows they were going to quarantine the area and the army would set up roadblocks and checkpoints. People were stocking their fall out shelters (some homes had fallout shelters during the cold war and WWII), plus if you lacked said preparation, you still stocked up on food and water for the long haul. I knew if the radiation hit at full force, it would be fruitless to prepare of attempt to outrun it, so I just waited out the horror, with no support from family and the community. Lancaster City Government did nothing, nothing. I was seventeen and all alone.
As mentioned, I was really into the outdoors and ecology. It was my main interest. I joined the Susquehanna Valley Alliance against TMI. I wasn’t active, but I wanted to support the cause. The SVA was older people with cars, and Mother was concerned about being in a radical group that was anti establishment, subculture, or hippies. SVA people were diverse, but Mother heard they were radicals, so advised me to keep my distance. I wanted to be more involved, and I loved hippies then and I love them now. I received their newsletter, yet my activism manifested itself through High School and Scouts. I wish I could of done more. I wish I was older and wiser. I was not about to chain myself to TMI; that was where the main concentration of radiation was, but it would of been cool to protest in DC and write nasty letters to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s idiotic liars or even President Carter himself.
I still felt, and I still feel that we were being lied to.
President Carter did visit; his visit chilled me a bit, as it was believed that he studied nuclear engineering. Regardless of President Carter’s educational background, I knew he was smart enough to not step foot in a overly contaminated island on the Susquehanna River. I still felt, and I still feel that we were being lied to. I think the government covered up the whole truth. Even after a government and private (non government) reports and investigations proved different, I was still skeptical, and I feel that skepticism was propagated via government actions in Vietnam and Watergate. I did not believe anything that The Authorities said. Rumors in the community, including scouts was that radiation had killed aquatic life, contaminated nearby crops, and genetically altered and deformed wildlife and fish. Radiation was released, regardless of the Geiger Counter reading, the overflow waste water to cool it is still sitting there, so the authorities lied, and they continue to lie. Jimmy Carter was recently diagnosed with cancer, so who knows; he is 94 years old. Maybe the radiation kept him ticking like the Atomic Clock.
Martin