1979 to 1980 · Public health
Three Mile Island
After the 1979 accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania, Danny Sheehan and the Christic Institute’s founders represented victims and fought plans to release radioactive material into the environment.
The accident
On March 28, 1979, Unit 2 of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station near Middletown, Pennsylvania suffered a partial core meltdown, the most serious accident in the history of U.S. commercial nuclear power. In the months that followed, the plant’s operators proposed releasing radioactive gas into the air and contaminated water into the Susquehanna River as part of the cleanup.
Danny’s role
Fresh from the Silkwood trial, Danny and the team that would become the Christic Institute represented victims of the accident and joined the legal effort to stop the releases. By Danny’s account, the effort won a federal court order halting the planned release of radioactive effluent into the Susquehanna, protecting communities downstream.
Watch Danny’s lectures on this case
- The Silkwood appeals and Three Mile Island (May 10, 2012)
From his UCSC lecture series. All lectures.