Exposure of the general population near TMI (Three Mile Island)
During the Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) accident, radioactive steam and water from the primary cooling system entered the auxiliary building and quantities of the volatile fission products, mainly the noble gases, entered the building atmosphere and were discharged to the environment by the ventilation system. In the days following the accident, the largest concentration of skilled radiation monitors in history assembled at Three Mile Island. Tens of thousands of measurements of many kinds were made and the data gathered by specialists from the staffs of the Kemeny Commission, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the US Department of Energy, its national laboratories, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the US Department of Health Education and Welfare. By the time the Kemeny Commission report was published in late 1979, the most probable collective dose was estimated to be 2000 prem, which is toward the lower end of the range of estimates reported by the interagency committee. This is equivalent to the dose received by 2 million people in /approx/3 days from natural sources of exposure. The maximum dose to any individual in the off-site general population was by then reported to be /approx/70 mrem, or somewhat less than the dose received from nature in 1 yr.
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (USA)
- OSTI ID:
- 5711236
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-881011-
- Journal Information:
- Trans. Am. Nucl. Soc.; (United States), Journal Name: Trans. Am. Nucl. Soc.; (United States) Vol. 57; ISSN TANSA
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Population dose and health impact of the accident at the Three Mile Island Nuclear Station. Preliminary estimates for the period March 28, 1979--April 7, 1979
TMI (Three Mile Island) and the environment
Related Subjects
210200 -- Power Reactors
Nonbreeding
Light-Water Moderated
Nonboiling Water Cooled
22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
220900* -- Nuclear Reactor Technology-- Reactor Safety
ACCIDENTS
AUXILIARY SYSTEMS
BACKGROUND RADIATION
COOLING SYSTEMS
DOSES
ELEMENTS
ENERGY SYSTEMS
ENRICHED URANIUM REACTORS
FEDERAL REGION III
FISSION PRODUCTS
FLUIDS
GASES
HUMAN POPULATIONS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
ISOTOPES
LABORATORIES
MATERIALS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NONMETALS
NORTH AMERICA
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PENNSYLVANIA
POPULATIONS
POWER REACTORS
PRIMARY COOLANT CIRCUITS
PUBLIC HEALTH
PWR TYPE REACTORS
RADIATION DOSES
RADIATION PROTECTION
RADIATIONS
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RARE GASES
REACTOR ACCIDENTS
REACTOR COMPONENTS
REACTOR COOLING SYSTEMS
REACTORS
STEAM
THERMAL REACTORS
THREE MILE ISLAND-2 REACTOR
US DOE
US EPA
US NRC
US ORGANIZATIONS
USA
VENTILATION SYSTEMS
WATER
WATER COOLED REACTORS
WATER MODERATED REACTORS