Nuclear accident at Three Mile Island: its effect on a local community
This dissertation consists of a longitudinal case study of the extent to which the structure of community power in Riverside, (a pseudonym) Pennsylvania (the largest community located within five miles of the Three Mile Island nuclear facility) changed as a result of the March, 1979 accident. The investigation centers around testing a basic working hypothesis. Simply stated, this working hypothesis argues that Riverside's power structure has become more pluralistic in response to the Three Mile Island nuclear accident. An additional corollary to this working hypothesis is also tested. This corollary asserts that many of Riverside's community power actors have become much more cosmopolitan in their political-action tactics and problem-solving orientations as a results of the TMI crisis. The aforementioned working hypothesis and associated corollary are tested via the combined utilization of three different techniques for measuring the distribution of social power. The findings of the study clearly demonstrate the existence of increased pluralism, politicization, and cosmopolitanism within Riverside since March of 1979. Furthermore, these research results, and the entire dissertation itself, contribute to a number of subfields within the discipline of sociology. In particular,contributions are noted for the subfields of community power, social movements, and disaster research.
- Research Organization:
- Delaware Univ., Newark (USA)
- OSTI ID:
- 7011268
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Thesis (Ph. D.)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
29 ENERGY PLANNING
POLICY AND ECONOMY
COMMUNITIES
SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS
REACTOR ACCIDENTS
SOCIAL IMPACT
THREE MILE ISLAND-2 REACTOR
DISASTERS
POLITICAL ASPECTS
ACCIDENTS
ENRICHED URANIUM REACTORS
INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS
POWER REACTORS
PWR TYPE REACTORS
REACTORS
THERMAL REACTORS
WATER COOLED REACTORS
WATER MODERATED REACTORS
210800* - Nuclear Power Plants- Economics
290600 - Energy Planning & Policy- Nuclear Energy
290200 - Energy Planning & Policy- Economics & Sociology