This photo, provided by Chuck Kern, was taken in 1979.
When the reactor at the Three Mile Island nuclear generating station partially melted down in 1979, Chuck Kern lived and worked nearby, and he kept an audio diary of the historic event.
When he started his recording on a hand-held device, Kern was the controller and personnel manager for a local bedding manufacturer near Harrisburg. He heard about the accident at work.
Kern listened to news updates on the radio, and tried to make calls to the company’s retail stores, but the phones were tied up, and he couldn’t even get a dial tone.“I was shocked. I was scared,” he said into his recorder.
Today, Kern is a forensic accountant. On this 40th anniversary of the accident, Kern talked with The Allegheny Front’s Kara Holsopple about his experience, and why he decided to keep an audio diary of the event.
“I just had enough of an interest in history that I’m going to record this, and maybe our world will come to an end if they have a complete meltdown, at least in this area, or perhaps not,” he said. “Maybe someday, somebody would find it interesting.”