Meltdowns and Waves

We interviewed 2 people about the TMI accident while we were in Middletown and 2 while we were at Dickinson College. The first interview was with a daycare worker. This person had children that weren’t her own when the meltdown occurred. Understandably the meltdown of the plant frightened her and she made the decision to leave Middletown and go to her parents house. I was very surprised by the amount of genuine fear in her voice when she talked to us. It must have been extremely nerve racking for her to be in charge of other peoples children during the time. She believed that the NRC was withholding information from the general public, which I tend to agree with. If indeed a big accident were to happen it is no surprise to me that the NRC would try and downplay it. They wouldn’t want the general public to panic, yet it was the withholding of information that made them panic anyways. One of the biggest problem with radiation is that it is invisible. It is hard to understand and react to a danger that no one can see with the naked eye and our interviewee made it clear that this added to her fear. Her commitment and genuine concern for the issue truly showed in the interview. The second person we interviewed was the head of an activist program that focused on working to shut down TMI. He had very strong opinions on the matter and believed the plant would shut down on its own for economical reasons. What I agreed with him on was the fact that nuclear energy should not be privatized and more transparency is necessary for TMI. I thought it was great that his organization monitors radiations on their own and has promised to find other jobs for the people working at TMI. The next person we interviewed was a student at Dickinson College during the meltdown. I thought it was interesting that the campus did not shut down and that students weren’t told to go home. It’s interesting how our interviewee mentioned that most of the students joked about the radiation, but the fear of a hydrogen explosion scared them. Once again the idea of a danger that isn’t visible plays a major role in how many people reacted to the accident. Last we interviewed a physics professor who worked at Dickinson during the time of the explosion. Our interview with this professor was the most surprising to me. The professor mentioned that the radiation leak was nothing to be afraid of and at times this person was even a couple miles away from the plant. From this persons own radiation readings, there were not deadly amounts of radiation leaking from the plant. It was very strange to me how relaxed she was about the incident, and I believe it was due to the knowledge she had on the subject. Knowledge seemed to play a massive role in the entire event and dictated people’s behavior.