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Meltdown : Throughline In the early hours of March 28, 1979, a system malfunction began what would become the worst nuclear accident in American history. What ensued punctured the public's belief in the safety of nuclear energy and became an awful study in the consequences of communication breakdown during a crisis. This week, the fallout of who and what to trust when a catastrophic event occurs.
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Meltdown

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Meltdown

Throughline

Meltdown

Meltdown

Listen · 54:47
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/847905109/864084662" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
  • The Three Mile Island nuclear power plant two days after a meltdown forced a temporary closure of the plant.
    The Three Mile Island nuclear power plant two days after a meltdown forced a temporary closure of the plant.
    Bettmann Archive/Getty Images
  • President Carter, center right, accompanied by Dr. Harold Denton, Director of the U.S. Nuclear Agency, left, and Pennsylvania Gov. Dick Thornburgh, left-rear, tour the control room of the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Middletown, Pa. on April 1, 1979, four days after the nuclear accident.
    President Carter, center right, accompanied by Dr. Harold Denton, Director of the U.S. Nuclear Agency, left, and Pennsylvania Gov. Dick Thornburgh, left-rear, tour the control room of the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Middletown, Pa. on April 1, 1979, four days after the nuclear accident.
    RUSTY KENNEDY/ASSOCIATED PRESS
  • With one man dressed as an undertaker, a group of people unfurl a protest banner in front of the cooling towers at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant.
    With one man dressed as an undertaker, a group of people unfurl a protest banner in front of the cooling towers at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant.
    Bettmann Archive/Getty Images
  • A safety official checks a worker from the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant for possible exposure to radioactivity, on March 28, 1979, in Middletown, Pa., shortly after an accident at the nuclear power plant led to the release of radioactive gas from the reactor into the atmosphere.
    A safety official checks a worker from the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant for possible exposure to radioactivity, on March 28, 1979, in Middletown, Pa., shortly after an accident at the nuclear power plant led to the release of radioactive gas from the reactor into the atmosphere.
    Anonymous/ASSOCIATED PRESS

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In the early hours of March 28, 1979, a system malfunction began what would become the worst nuclear accident in American history. What ensued punctured the public's belief in the safety of nuclear energy and became an awful study in the consequences of communication breakdown during a crisis. This week, the fallout of who and what to trust when a catastrophic event occurs.

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