Who Destroyed Three Mile Island
summary
A detailed reconstruction shows operators turned off emergency core cooling two and a half minutes after it auto‑started because pressurizer readings, naval training, and misleading panel lights imply the system is full; a pilot-operated relief valve stuck open and a left‑open block valve mean coolant keeps escaping, the core goes 2/3 uncovered by 7:00, and about 20 tons of melted uranium form blobs. Containment prevents major release, cleanup costs about $1B cleanup and takes decades; investigators use Sydney Decker’s first vs second story framework to trace systemic causes.
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chapters (14)
- 0:00Start
- 1:42How Nuclear Power Generation Works
- 3:29Families of Nuclear Power Reactors
- 6:17Condensate Polishers
- 8:46Schematic of Three Mile Island Unit Two
- 10:54Pressurizer
- 20:14Gary Miller
- 24:59The Field Guide to Understanding Human Error
- 25:10First Stories and Second Stories
- 25:38Hindsight Bias
- 26:07Outcome Bias
- 27:23Why Would Fred Shaymin Make the Decision To Turn Off the Emergency Core Cooling System
- 32:25Why Did the Crew Not Respond When the Sump Alarm Went Off How Could They Not Know that They Had a Coolant Leak
- 35:33Holding People Accountable
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