this post was submitted on 23 Sep 2024
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I am a DOE licensed nuclear power plant operator. I worked in the engine room of an aircraft carrier for 4 years. I have received an insane amount of training on TMI.
TMI is terrifying, but not for the reasons people think. The qualified operators of the plant were fucking idiots. They didn’t understand that they had reached saturation conditions in the primary loop. Basically, they created a steam bubble where water should have been. They didn’t understand this. They have all the training and experience required to work the water boiling factory and they didn’t understand water boiling. They assumed that their instruments were malfunctioning, that they knew better. If they were in a more serious casualty situation with their incompetence and egos it would have been a disaster.
Brushing off the incident at three mile island as “just a little leak” completely misses the point. Three Mile Island proves that Chernobyl wasn’t just communist incompetence. It can happen anywhere.
I think for most who are anti-nuclear, it’s absolutely human error that makes it scary.