MIDDLETOWN, Pa. — On March 28, 1979, the Three Mile Island nuclear power facility went through a partial meltdown, making it the worst nuclear accident in the US. Forty-five years later, people still remember that day like it was yesterday.
“Nobody had any idea because it’s something you can’t see," said Greg Stone, who is a retired Pennsylvania State Trooper. "So, everybody was freaking out.”
Stone was a State Trooper stationed in Lancaster at the time of the accident. He said he was sent to Middletown when the calls started coming in.
“They gave me a little Giger counter and a pen to put on my shirt," recalled Stone. "And they said, ‘Put your windows up and don’t touch it,’ because it was panic time.”
As people look up at the cooling towers and remember what happened on that day, the Three Mile Island facility is still undergoing a long decommissioning process. The facility was closed in 2019.
TMI units one and two are being decommissioned by two different companies, Constellation and TMI-2 Solutions.
TMI-2 is where the partial meltdown occurred.
The Federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission said TMI-2 is still in the first of two decommissioning phases. The first phase includes planning to remove the rest of the reactor's core and debris.
“There’s about one percent of the debris in the coolant system and other systems," said Diane Screnci, a senior public affairs officer with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. "So, they’re putting together those plans to remove that.”
A spokesman for Constellation tells FOX43 that TMI-1 is in the middle of its decommissioning process. Eric Epstein of TMI Alert said the company has taken the spent fuel from the reactor and placed it in dry casks on-site.
“However, those casks are not meant to last forever," said Epstein. "So, at some point, we’re going to have to find a place to put the waste.”
Epstein argues that getting rid of the waste will become a bigger issue the longer the decommissioning process goes on. TMI-2 is expected to be fully clear by 2052, while TMI-1 is expected to be clear by 2079.
“If that waste stays there for an indefinite period of time, it will be a serious challenge to the environment," said Epstein.