MArch 28 ya cika shekaru 30 tun lokacin da wani yanki na narkewa da bala'in radiation a Tsibirin Mile Mile (TMI) kusa da Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Bayanan labarai sun lura da asarar mai sanyaya, narkewar man fetur, fashewar abubuwa da yawa, fitar da iskar gas na rediyo, zubar da gurbataccen ruwa, da kuma tarin bama-baman hydrogen a cikin jirgin ruwa. Hatsarin ya haifar da fargaba a duk fadin kasar cewa fadada makamashin nukiliya ya kare a Amurka.
Duk da haka ba a fahimci sakamakon muhalli da lafiya na bala'in TMI ba. Rufewa na hukuma, farfagandar masana'antu, da jahilcin cututtukan da ke haifar da radiation sun haifar da ɓata lokaci na TMI da yunƙurin farfaɗo da sabon ginin reactor. Duk wani irin wannan farfaɗowar ya dogara gaba ɗaya ga biliyoyin tallafin tarayya, saboda, kamar Forbes Mujallar ta taba bayyana a bangonta, "Rashin nasarar shirin makamashin nukiliyar Amurka ya zama bala'i mafi girma na gudanarwa a tarihin kasuwanci, bala'i a ma'auni."
Masana'antar Nukiliya ta baya-bayan nan ta yunƙura don tada ikon nukiliya daga matattu kwari a cikin shekaru 30 na kimiyya game da illolin ƙananan allurai. Wani dan majalisar dokoki na Wisconsin ya ce a cikin rikodin a 2007, "Three Mile Island ya kasance nasarar kamawa."
Al’amura ba su da bambanci sosai a shekarar 1979, lokacin da Hukumar Kemeny ta Shugaba Carter ta yi gaggawar kammala rahotonta kan bala’in. Hukumar ba ta yi la’akari da illolin da iska ke haifarwa ba, duk da cewa iskar ta kada shida zuwa tara mph zuwa New York da yammacin Pennsylvania. Sama da 10 miliyan curies na rediyoaktif darajar gas, ciki har da 43,000 curies na krypton-852 (wanda ya zauna a cikin muhalli har tsawon shekaru 100) da kuma 15 zuwa 24 curies na rediyoaktif iodine-1313, an vented daga ginin "kwance". (Curie—raguwa biliyan 37 a cikin daƙiƙa guda—yawan adadin radiation ne.) Kamar yadda Hukumar Kula da Nukiliya (NRC) ta lura daga baya, an yi amfani da “fiye da gangan amma ba a sarrafa su ba” don fitar da iskar gas. Ƙididdiga masu fitar da iska na hukuma hasashe ne saboda rashin isassun adadin na'urori masu auna radiyo a waje-rabin ba sa aiki kuma yawancinsu sun tafi a kan sikelin.
A rana ta uku da iskar waɗannan iskar gas, rabin mutanen da ke tsakanin mil 15—mutane 144,000—sun tsere daga yankin. Ya zuwa wannan lokaci mafi yawan iskar da ke haifar da hatsarin ta riga ta yawo akan iskar. Bugu da kari, kusan galan 400,000 na ruwan sanyi na rediyoaktif wanda ya zubo daga reactor an jefar a asirce zuwa kogin Susquehanna, tushen ruwan sha ga al'ummomin da ke kusa. Daga baya kimanin galan miliyan 2.3 na gurɓataccen ruwan sanyaya mai ratsa jiki an ba da izinin "ƙasar da shi" cikin yanayi.
A cikin 1980 Hukumomin Ma'aikatar Kiwon Lafiya ta Jihar Pennsylvania sun ba da rahoton hauhawar hauhawar jini a cikin jariran da aka haifa a cikin larduna uku sun ragu daga reactor. A ƙarshen 1979, an haifi jarirai sau huɗu kamar yadda aka saba da cutar. Hukumar ta NRC ta ce karuwar ba ta da alaka da radiation da TMI ta fitar duk da cewa yawan kamuwa da cutar ya ragu kasa da matsakaicin kasa. A wannan shekarar, ma'aikata shida sun shiga ginin da ke da gurbacewar muhalli kuma biyar daga cikin shidan sun mutu sakamakon kamuwa da cutar kansa. David Lochbaum na Kungiyar Masana Kimiyyar da ke damuwa ya ba da rahoton cewa UCS ta yi adawa da sabunta lasisi ga rukunin TMI masu rai kuma ta bukaci nazarin kiwon lafiya ga makwabta. NRC ta ki.
A cikin gundumar da TMI ke, mutuwar jarirai ya karu da kashi 53.7 a cikin wata na farko bayan hadarin; 27 bisa dari a cikin shekarar farko. Kamar yadda aka buga da farko, gwamnatin tarayya na kanta "Rahoton Kididdigar Kididdigar Mahimmanci na Watanni" ya nuna ƙididdigan hauhawar jarirai da yawan mace-mace jim kaɗan bayan hatsarin.
Yin nazarin gundumomi 10 mafi kusa da TMI, mawallafa Jay M. Gould da Benjamin Goldman, a cikin littafin 1990 da aka rubuta sosai. Mutuwar yaudara, ya gano cewa ciwon daji na yara, da sauran cututtukan jarirai, da mace-mace daga lahani na haihuwa sun fi kashi 15 zuwa 35 bisa dari fiye da kafin hadarin da kuma wadanda ke fama da ciwon nono da kashi 7 cikin dari. Waɗannan haɓaka sun zarce na sauran wurare a Pennsylvania. Gould ya nuna cewa tsakanin 50,000 zuwa 100,000 da suka wuce kima sun faru bayan hadarin TMI.
Joseph Mangano na Cibiyar Radiation da Kiwon Lafiyar Jama'a (RPHP) da ke New York ya ce, "NRC tana ba da damar injiniyoyi su fitar da wani matakin radiation, amma ba ta yin binciken da za a bi don ganin ko akwai mutuwar jarirai da yawa, haihuwa. lahani, ko ciwon daji." Mutuwar cutar sankarar bargo a tsakanin yara ‘yan kasa da shekaru 10 tsakanin 1980 zuwa 1984 sun yi tsalle kusan kashi 50 cikin dari idan aka kwatanta da adadin kasa. Mangano ya ba da rahoton cewa "tsakanin 1980 zuwa 1984, adadin mace-mace a cikin kananan hukumomi uku mafi kusa sun fi 1970-74 (kafin a buɗe reactor) don cutar sankarar bargo, nono mace, thyroid, da kashi da kuma ciwon daji."
A cikin Spring 2000 edition na Ilimin Cutar Muhalli da Toxicology Mangano da Ernest Sternglass sun ba da rahoton cewa a kananan hukumomin da ke kusa da injinan nukiliya, mace-macen jarirai na raguwa sosai bayan rufe injinan. Binciken RPHP ya gano cewa a cikin shekaru biyu na farko bayan da aka rufe reactors, adadin mutuwar jarirai ya ragu da kashi 15 zuwa 20 cikin dari. A cikin al'ummomin da ke kusa da Big Rock Point a Michigan, alal misali, raguwar adadin mace-macen jarirai ya kai kashi 54 cikin ɗari; a Maine Yankee, an samu raguwar kashi 33.4 bisa dari.
Shaidar ciwon daji da ayyukan reactor ke haifarwa suna tunawa da kalmomin Roger Mattson, tsohon darektan NRC Division of Safety Safety, wanda ya ce a lokacin narkewar TMI, "Ban tabbata dalilin da yasa ba ku motsa mutane ba. Ban sani ba. ku san abin da muke karewa a wannan lokacin."