Lessons Learned
The accident at Three Mile Island led the industry to learn crucial lessons about safety and crisis management. While mechanical failure was the main cause of the accident, human factors made the situation substantially worse. The control room staff was overwhelmed with false information. Without the tools and knowledge that were needed to deal with this situation, operators failed. Many things were learned from the events such as new nuclear reactor operator training, practice emergency plans and operations, placement and types of warning signals, and most importantly, improved surveillance and instrumentation of critical systems required to cool the reactor and stop the escape of radionuclides. Another main issue that came along with the tragic events at Three Mile Island was how slow an ineffective communication with the government and public was. Because of this, now they have developed emergency plans that they practice with local, state, and federal agencies to ensure proper operation. They also have created two Emergency Planning Zones that are areas with preplanned emergency responses and notification channels; the Plume Exposure Pathway and the Ingestion Exposure Pathway.