I was in my senior year at Elizabethtown College, a bit more than five miles away from the TMI facility. To fully understand the impact that day, you need to remember that most of us in our college years grew up with “Duck and Cover” drills in elementary school. We grew up with the constant reminder that a nuclear attack was not only a possibility, but had almost occurred in our youth. Finally, and probably most importantly, we were told, repeatedly and consistently, by TMI and the regulators that an “event” (never an accident) could never realistically happen. That there was a “one-in-a-million” chance anything would go wrong and that an incident occurring at TMI would happen once in “thousands of years.” I attended high school with the kids of TMI workers, all of whom knew with a certainty that the skills of their Father’s would ensure the plant was safe, “over-engineered with multiple redundancies,” and being built to the best of all possible quality standards. Looking in hindsight that was probably correct, given the outcome.
only time we ever heard that sound… was when something very bad was going to happen
I was in English History class with Dr. Poole. It was an unusually warm day for March, temperature and humidity closer to May than March. Class was located in an older building, on campus, now gone, with no air conditioning and windows open to let in a breeze. Our class had only about 8 or so students and class had been in session for a few minutes, when the E-Town Volunteer Fire Company siren began to wail. This wasn’t that unusual, it was how they were notified in 1979 when CB radios and police monitors were how you found out what was happening. The the initial signal was pretty much ignored. it was an almost daily occurrence. What was different this time is that it didn’t stop. It continued to wail and didn’t stop. For those of us who grew up with the television and movies of the day, including the 1960 movie of HG Wells Time Machine and its scenes of nuclear attack, the only time we ever heard that sound, that long, was when something very bad was going to happen. We were trained to seek cover.
“This is a test, this is only a test…” Only this time, it wasn’t.
Professor Poole finally acknowledged that this was something that couldn’t be ignored, and finally told us that we were dismissed and should go back to our dorms or homes. Professor Poole was a former Strategic Bomber pilot and did not fluster easily, and he was concerned and we could see that. Most of the student body was moving toward their housing at a pretty high rate of speed – a dead run. When I rounded the corner to my dorm hallway, all of the stereo systems (our high-end electronics), were tuned to various radio stations – all stations were all broadcasting the Civil Defense mono-tone signal which we had all heard growing up. “This is a test, this is only a test…” Only this time, it wasn’t. Periodically, the tone was interrupted with a directive to tune in channel, as I remember, WSBA AM radio. Tuning to the channel really didn’t do too much to help, it was clear no one had any real idea of what was going on – just that it was bad.
The college was essentially deserted within 15 min. I ended up with my hallmate Lou in Lancaster with a handful of clothes and a tennis racket. Still not sure why those were my choices. Others headed home or out of the area.
He indicated that, yes, there was a serious problem, but it wasn’t as bad as being reported
When things calmed down an hour or two later, I called my parents, who told me they had spoken with a former neighbor who worked on TMI, and who had been in contact with the TMI staff on site. He was now a lead-engineer on another nuclear facility. He indicated that, yes, there was a serious problem, but it wasn’t as bad as being reported (the actual danger) and, when my Mom questioned him, he assured her everything would be o.k. He also said that, if there was even a small chance of any danger, he wouldn’t permit his daughter to stay in the area. That was pretty much enough for me to return home. For others without that information, that wasn’t the case.
Later in the week, the replay of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, was rebroadcast with the Chyron (the scrolling message at the bottom of the screen) repeating the same information from the earlier broadcast that there was a radiation danger, causing another near panic.
I am still pro-nuclear power. That is based on my experiences later in life and due, in part, to an unwillingness to send young men to fight for oil and warm showers. I am not Pollyanna enough to every believe that Nuclear power is “totally safe” or will have an “event” only once every thousand or so years. That was hubris, and is still as much a danger now as it was in 1979. It was an interesting and unique experience in my life, and while it had an impact, it was not as life-altering for me as for other experiences I have had.