Category: Content Type (Page 10 of 36)

Newspaper: The Patriot
Date: March 30, 1979
Title: Students Measure Extent of Fallout
Author: Chuck Muir, Staff Writer

Chinese weapons testers taught students at Hummelstown more about nuclear radiation than has one of the more serious accident in a nuclear fallout just a few miles away at the Three Mile Island nuclear generating station.

The last Chinese nuclear bomb test sort of rang the bell on radiation monitors used by nuclear science students at the Lower Dauphin High School, but radiation discharged after an equipment failure Wednesday at TMI barely pushed levels above normal.

Teacher Vernon Lyter says “usually there’s nothing to monitor,” so his students viewed the TMI emergency as a chance to see the detectors detect. Two students Thursday made a field trip to two elementary schools close to the power station; others tested at the high school.

Readings at Londonberry School, closest to TMI, were “about 10 to 15 percent above normal,” 15 counts per minute on a scintillation counter. Normal fluctuations “run that high,” Lyter said.

He said he would be concerned only if the counter, an unsophisticated device, showed 1,000 counts per minute. Even the readout from the Chinese bomb fallout, higher than from the TMI fallout, was considerably below that.

Readings recorded by students “were much, much higher, about 100 to 250 percent above normal, after the Chinese nuclear weapons testing” Lyter said.

The count was below normal at Conewago School, about four miles from TMI, and slightly above normal at the high school.

Newspaper: The Patriot
Date: March 30, 1979
Title: Radiation: Who Said What
Author: Associated Press

Who knew there was a leak? When did they tell?

The answers about radiation after Wednesday’s accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant near Harrisburg were slow to come and confusing. They were still confusing on Thursday.

The first word, at 9 a.m.: no leak.

An hour later: Yes, there was a little leak.

Twenty-four hours later: “We concede that it’s not just a little thing,” said Don Curry, a spokesman for Metropolitan Edison Co., which owns and operates the plant.

Utility officials and government authorities didn’t waver from assertions that there was no danger to public health or safety. Little else remained constant as the story unfolded: (Times are approximate.)

9 a.m.-James Cox of the Pennsylvania State Police: A “general emergency” has been declared by plant officials. “Whatever it is, it is contained in the second (nuclear) unit. They said there is no radiation leak.”

Frank Ingrahm, a spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in Washington: There has been “some kind of accident” at the plant. Authorities in Harrisburg say a water pump used to cool the nuclear reactor broke down at 4 a.m. Judy Botvin, a plant spokeswoman, says she does not know whether radiation leaked.

10 a.m. -Some radiated steam escaped, but the radiation outside the plant is not dangerous. Blaine Fabian of Metropolitan Edison: “At this time, there have been no recordings of any significant levels of radiation and none are expected outside the plant.

11 a.m.-Karl Abraham, public affairs officer for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in Philadelphia: “What they’re seeing is extremely low radiation. It appears to be confined to inside the containment structure, the steel reinforced concrete dome around the reactor. They have not detected any significant radiation off site.”

Bill Dornsife, nuclear engineer with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources: “There was very little wind this morning so the radioactivity shouldn’t have gone very far. What small release there was will be confined to the local vicinity.” The company did not contact the state Civil Defense until 7 a.m., three hours after the accident. “We will investigate whether there was any lag.”

Dave Klucsik, a spokesman for Metropolitan Edison: “There is no danger of a meltdown. We are not in a ‘China Syndrome’ situation.” He refers to a current movie about the cover-up of a nuclear catastrophe involving the failure of a cooling mechanism at a nuclear plant.

Noon-Lt. Gov. William Scranton III: “There was a small release of radiation to the environment…No increase in normal radiation levels outside the plant.”

Metropolitan Edison President Walter Creitz: “Immediately when it happened we sent teams out…We could detect nothing above natural background radiation. There was a small release, but you know, this couldn’t detect it…the exact amount. I’ll be honest about it, I don’t know.”

1 p.m.-Dornsife: The radiation leak is equivalent to one milirem per hour. (Rems and milirems are used to measure the radiation absorption by the body; on average, Americans are exposed to about 100 or 120 milirems per year.) “Nobody was in the containment shell” when the steam escaped.

2 p.m.-Jack Herbein, vice president for generation at Metropolitan Edison: “Some (workers) may have been contaminated. It’s nothing we can’t take care of.”

3 p.m.-Creitz: Monitoring at the edge of the 200-acre plant site show an increase of 2 to 3 milirems per hour in radiation levels.

4 p.m.-Scranton: “This situation is more complex than the company first led us to believe. Metropolitan Edison has given you and us conflicting information.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission: The accident sent radiation through the plant’s 4-foot thick walls and sent low-level radiation as far as a mile from the plant site.

Joe Fouchard of the NRC: “There’s a hell of a lot of radiation in the reactor building.” Radiation from steam alone would not penetrate the steel-lined walls. The only likely source of such high-level radiation appears to be some portion of the reactor’s fuel. It is not known whether part of the fuel might have melted, evaporated or blown out of the core before the reaction was stopped.

Leonard Matt, public relations consultant for a group representing General Public Utilities, the consortium of which Metropolitan Edison is a part: “Some damage to the cladding (the insulation around the fuel) may have occurred.”

Richard Esteves, director of corporate communications for General Public Utilities: “The story has changed throughout the day.”

5 p.m.-Herbein: “I’m sure some of (the workers) got exposure, but positively none were over-exposed.”
Fouchard: “We believe there is direct radiation from radioactive material within the reactor building.”

6 p.m.-The government says the accident apparently damaged the reactor core and may have let radioactive material into the atmosphere. Edison Case, deputy director of reactor regulation for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission: Radiation levels inside the building registered 1,000 times normal.

Scranton: Steam containing radioactive material was released into the air for over two hours to “relieve potentially dangerous pressure” in the reactor.

Dornsife: “Something caused the core to overheat.”

7 p.m.-Case: Radioactivity inside the reactor dome was measured at a level of 6,000 Roentgens. The normal level in the dome is 5 to 6 Roentgens. “A damn lot of radiation.”

General Public Utilities: There was “some low level release of radioactive gas beyond the side boundary…Despite this release, the company does not believe the level constitutes a danger to the health and safety of the public.”

Officials in Washington: Available readings indicate there no hazard outside the plant.

Sen. Gary Hart, D-Colo., chairman of the Senate subcommittee on nuclear regulation: “I am informed that the emergency core cooling system was turned off prematurely-resulting in a partial blockage of water needed to cool the nuclear core and keep it under control. Some human error seems to have been involved in responding…”

10 p.m.-George Troffer, manager of generation quality assurance for Metropolitan Edison: He disputes the Nuclear Regulatory Commission claim that radiation inside the reactor dome was 1,000 times normal. The level was perhaps 10 times normal, he says.

Government investigators: Radiation could be measured 16 miles away from the plant, but the reactor core was not damaged.

Charles Gallina, an NRC investigator: Radiation was emitted from contaminated water in an auxiliary building when officials intentionally sent steam into the air, not knowing it was contaminated. “We have a serious contamination problem on site. You might say…it’s one of the more serious…Nothing critical failed, but it’s a dirty problem.”

Bob Fries, of the Department of Energy: Officials measured up to 70 milirems at the plant site-about two and one-thirds times the amount of a chest X-ray.

James Higgins, an NRC reactor inspector: “They (radiation levels) are high, but not yet crucial. It was not close to a catastrophe.”

Midnight-Another leak may have developed in the ½ inch thick rods containing uranium pellets to power the reactor.

7 a.m. Thursday-Walter Creitz: The plant is shut down safely and the level of radiation released “would not endanger or injure any people.” He does not know precisely what caused the accident. “Anything that man makes will not operate perfectly. A piece of equipment failed.”

9 a.m.-Radiation leaks continue. Don Curry, a Metropolitan Edison spokesman: “The vapor that is now going into the atmosphere…is only mildly radioactive within accepted limits.” The vapor is from a sump pump, designed to remove water after it has cooled the reactor. “We concede that it’s not just a little thing.”

11 a.m.-Herbein: Of the 100 to 120 employees in the reactor area at the time of the accident, only 10 to 15 had to be decontaminated with showers. “There is presently no danger to the public health or safety. We didn’t injure anybody, we didn’t over-expose anybody, and we certainly didn’t kill anybody.”

Newspaper: The Patriot
Date: March 30, 1979
Title: Radioactive Iodine Traces: Milk Producers ‘Wait’
Author: Mark Klaus, Staff Writer

Harrisburg area dairy industry spokesmen have adopted a wait-and-see attitude after federal regulators found some radioactivity in milk samples taken from near the Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant after a radiation leak Wednesday.

“Threshold levels” of radioactive iodine were found in milk samples in the area, according to Ed Jordan, Nuclear Regulatory Commission assistant director of reactor operations inspection. But Jordan said there was no immediate threat to health from the radiation.

Milk samples taken from seven area cows found that one cow had an iodine concentration of 20 picocuries per liter, according to Thomas Gerusky, director of the Department of Environmental Resources’ Bureau of Radiological Protection.

He said that during a previous fallout from a Chinese nuclear bomb, hundreds of picocuries per liter were found in milk.

“The Department of Agriculture has taken four samples of milk from farms in a certain radius,” John Nikoloss, public information officer for the state Department of Agriculture, said. “The Department of Environmental Resources will conduct tests.”

Nikoloss said he was “basically not concerned about a problem of radiation in milk because we’ve not gotten a statement from DER that the radiation is sufficient to cause harm.”

SPOKESMEN FROM two area diaries said they had not been informed of radioactivity in their milk.

“We are not aware of any radioactivity in our product,” according to George Nagel, sales manager at Lenkerbrook Farms Milk, 7750 Allentown Blvd.

He said Lenkerbrook cows are feeding inside, not grazing outside, and the state Milk Sanitation and Animal Industry bureaus are monitoring the situation closely. Wengerts Dairy in Lebanon processes Lenkerbrook’s milk.

“Naturally we’re upset because this adversely affects our business,” Jim Smith, assistant to the president at Harrisburg Dairies, 20th and Herr Streets, said. “But as of now, we have no reports of contamination.”

Both Nagel and Smith said although people seem concerned, they are not at a panic stage.

“I got about 30 calls from customers but they’re not panicking,” Nagel said. “They don’t seem overly concerned. Lenkerbrook got more calls on this problem than the Chinese one, I guess because this is local. We only got four or five calls the last time.”

Smith said Harrisburg Dairies has had “quite a few inquiries today, but not as many as during the Chinese scare.”

Newspaper: The Patriot
Date: March 30, 1979
Title: Nuclear Dangers Doubted
Author: Carmen Brutto, Staff Writer

Officials of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Thursday on-site radiation conditions continue on Three Mile Island with “no danger” to persons residing in the off-site area.

They were joined by Gov. Dick Thornburgh who told a press conference that area residents should not disrupt their daily routine in the aftermath of the failure of a turbine at Unit 2 in the nuclear generating plant on Wednesday.

Thomas Gerusky, director of the Department of Environmental Resource’s Bureau of Radiological Protection, said radiation levels in Goldsboro decreased at selected spots from 20 millirems per hour at 6:30 a.m. Thursday to one millirem per hour at 2 p.m.

Gerusky also said that milk samples taken from seven cows on area farms found one having an iodine concentrate of 20 picocuries per liter. In the fallout from a Chinese nuclear bomb explosion several years ago, Gerusky said, the picocuries per liter “measured in the hundreds.”

“I believe, at this point, that there is no cause for alarm, nor any reason to disrupt…daily routine, nor any reason to feel that the public health has been effected by events on Three Mile Island,” Thornburgh said. “This applies to pregnant women; this applies to little children; and this applies to our food supply.”

THORNBURGH commented on what he called a “conflicting” array of information being fed the public and added that “I feel that I have succeeded” in separating fact from fiction on the more important questions.

“While the danger is under control at this time, it is very important that all of us remain alert and informed,” the governor said. “We will continue to do everything we can to see that this is done.”

Dr. Charles Gallina, NRC investigator, and James Higgins, NRC reactor inspector, said conditions on the island and in the area were steadily improving.

While the reactor heat was stabilizing, Higgins said, there was no estimate on how long the Metropolitan Edison Co. must wait before it reached a cold shutdown area.

Gallina said test flights in the vicinity, as much as 10 miles to the north, found contamination of about two-tenths of one percent of a millirem per hour. Ground checks found contamination “below detectable activity,” he said.

Gallina said release rates of radiation at the building housing the contaminated water “have dropped drastically.” He added that radiation emissions from the area were only a problem on the site.

“There are no off-site dangers at present,” Gallina said. “There is a logistical problem for people working on site. Based on what we have been able to determine, there is no danger off-site.

“There is a danger for workers from radiation. We respect it; we do not fear it. We do the job as it has to be done.”

The off-site areas have a normal background radiation reading of 100 millirems a year, according to Gerusky. He said a typical chest or dental X-ray exposes the patient to 30 millirems of radiation. Some areas in northeastern Pennsylvania, he said, maybe have normal background radiation of 200 millirems per year because of uranium deposits.

ASKED WHY the off-site readings on radiation fluctuated, Gallina described the contaminants as moving in a cloud which disperses under atmospheric conditions. He also said that the radiation from the nuclear plant emissions differs from an atomic bomb explosion in that the former has a shorter life, and the latter’s staying power contaminates areas.

Thornburgh was asked for his assessment of the impact the failure at the Three Mile Island facility might have on the development of nuclear power in the country.

“Anytime you have an accident that indicates the systems are not infallible, it causes a review process,” he said. “I and others are going to want to be assured by a thorough investigation that what occurred here is not some basic fault in the mechanism (for) making nuclear power. I don’t think it ‘tolls’ the use of nuclear power, but shows we can’t run pell-mell into a form of energy we don’t have a handle on.”

Newspaper: The Patriot
Date: April 3, 1979
Title: Bubble Shrinks-Maybe
Author: Richard Roberts, Staff Writer

A federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission official Monday expressed cautious optimism that a hazardous gas bubble inside the Unit 2 reactor vessel at Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station may be decreasing in size and may be less potentially explosive than previously feared.

Harold Denton, director of the NRC’s Office of Reactor Regulation, said at a news conference at Middletown Borough Hall that initial mathematical computations show a “dramatic decrease in bubble size.”

But he declined to say the situation is no longer serious. He also declined to say whether an evacuation of area residents still might be required.

The bubble, composed mostly of hydrogen gas, was estimated to be 80 cubic feet on Monday, compared to 850 cubic feet “a few days back,” he said. The bubble is considered a major stumbling block to cooling down the damaged reactor core.

“The equation used to calculate the bubble size is sort of a first-order approximation. It’s shown a dramatic decrease in bubble size,” he said.

The new figure “is certainly reason for optimism,” he said. “It is certainly going the direction that I’d like to see.”

But Denton cautioned that the figure may not be accurate because some influencing factors, or “effects” were not taken into consideration. He said the apparent dramatic change in the size of the gas bubble “has caused me some skepticism.”

“I don’t want to stampeded into concurring that the bubble is actually this small,” he said. “We’re trying to do more sophisticated analysis to be sure that the equations that are used to calculate the bubble size properly include all effects.

“We didn’t focus on the accuracy of that calculation as long as it wasn’t changing. I’m having the staff right now look into the details of that number, and I hope to be able to agree with it or not in the near future.”

Denton could not explain the reason for the apparent change in the bubble size, adding that there was no change or acceleration in efforts to remove dissolved gas from the primary coolant.

“I didn’t expect such a rapid change, and that’s one reason I want to carefully look at it,” he said.

Denton said new calculations show that the rate of oxygen production inside the reactor vessel is less than he reported on Sunday. A mixture of oxygen and hydrogen in certain proportions can be highly explosive.

Both hydrogen and oxygen are being produced continually in the reactor core by the natural process of radiolysis-the breaking down of water into its component elements, hydrogen and oxygen.

Denton warned Sunday that because on the danger of explosion, a decision on whether to take extraordinary steps to force the bubble out of the reactor vessel would have to be made “within five days or less.”

It was feared that an explosion (illegible) reactor vessel could cause a (illegible) of coolant and lead to a melt-down, in which tremendous amounts of radioactive material would be released.

Denton said the revised rate of (illegible) generation is based upon (illegible) consensus of technical (illegible) that “for situations such as this where there’s high oxygen overpressure in a vessel, that the oxygen evolution rate is very low.”

Based upon the revised calculations, Denton said a decision on whether to force the bubble out no longer must be made within five days. Asked when the final cooling-off process of “cold shutdown” would occur, he said: “there is no time-frame pressure for cold shutdown.

“The core is being adequately cooled in this pressure mode, and before we go to cold shutdown, we want to check out the heat-removal system.”

Asked if he thought an evacuation still might be needed, Denton said: “I think the evacuation plans are controlled by the state. My own view is that my own concerns with regard to the potential for a hydrogen explosion to the bubble are diminishing.

“I briefed the governor last night. I briefed him this morning on the events as I see them. The decision regarding evacuation is the governor’s responsibility.”

Denton said he did not advise Gov. Dick Thornburgh to order an evacuation.

The temperature of fuel rod assemblies in the reactor core are declining, Denton said. But he said two of the assemblies registered more than 500 degrees and that four of the assemblies registered more than 400 degrees.

The levels of radiation in the area surrounding Three Mile Island are declining, Denton said. Dosimeter readings from 37 locations around the plant during a 24-hour period ending late Sunday night showed a high of 1.1 millirems per hour and a low of .04 millirems per hour.

The NRC is investigating two reported findings of iodine 131, a radioisotope that accumulates on grass, is ingested by cows and eventually contaminates their milk. “We’re still checking these out,” Denton said.
Efforts to remove hydrogen gas from the reactor containment building from using “recombiners” to convert hydrogen and air into water were not initiated early Monday morning.

Scientists are concerned that the continual generation of hydrogen and oxygen by radiolysis in the containment building might create a potentially explosive mixture.

Denying that there is any “significance” to the delay, Denton said he wanted to be “firmly convinced” that the recombiners are properly installed, and tested for leaks.

Newspaper: The Patriot
Date: April 3, 1979
Title: 40 Jumped the Gun on Evacuation
Author: Ron Jury, Staff Writer

An estimated 40 Dauphin County residents have implemented the county’s contingency evacuation plans and have shown up at special reception areas in Columbia and Juniata counties, according to Kevin J. Molloy, director of the Office of Emergency Preparedness.

Molloy explained that in two separate incidents, some 20 persons showed up at reception centers in the two counties.

Molloy said those centers are only to be used if an evacuation is called by the governor. The centers are just part of contingency plans in case of an evacuation, he said.

People who show up at the centers without an evacuation order put a strain on the host counties. Those centers are not prepared to handle evacuees at this time, Molloy said.

Unless residents have a relative or specific place to go, Molloy said they should not leave and go to one of the reception centers.

MOLLOY SAID 40 percent of the 200,000 Dauphin County residents within 20 miles of the crippled Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station have evacuated. Based on reports from local officials he said more than 50,000 persons have fled Dauphin County.

Commission Chairman John E. Minnich advised individual residents who decide to leave voluntarily to notify local police agencies.

Asked about the county’s plan, Minnich said it is “well in hand.” Minnich added that he is “very confident” about the plan should it have to be implemented.

Molloy said the county “plan is settled,” but that “we are constantly insuring that aspects (of the plan) are ready.”

Molloy said there is constant updating of information on the situation at hospitals and nursing homes as well as from the proposed host counties.

“WE are not by any means relaxing, but are at the stage where we can constantly refine what we’ve done,” Molloy said.

The county’s contingency plan is in three stages. It provides the procedure for an evacuation within a 5-mile, 10-mile and 20-mile radius of the nuclear plant.

The five-mile evacuation area includes Middletown, Royalton, Lower Swatara Twp., Londonberry Twp. and Highspire.

Molloy estimated that if the order is given to clear the five-mile area, it will take less than five hours now that residents of two nursing homes in that area have been moved.

IN AN EVACUATION, those residents would go to either Halifax for Middletown; Scranton for Royalton; Bedford for Lower Swatara Twp.; Jim Thorpe for Londonberry Twp.; and the City of Somerset for Highspire.

Initially, the county had a plan to move residents of that five-mile area to either Hersheypark Sports Arena or the Farm Show Arena.

That plan, though, has been scrapped and persons should follow the plan that was announced on Monday and go to reception centers outside Dauphin County, Malloy said.

Municipal civil defense officials have been given copies of the county plan to provide information to local residents, Molloy continued.

Asked about contingency plans for hospitals and nursing homes, Joel Grottenthaler, executive director of Pennsylvania Emergency Health Services Council, said “what we have done in the last 12 hours is really to tune up loose ends.”

Grottenthaler held a meeting on Sunday with about 50 persons from hospitals and other institutions who would be involved in such an evacuation.

He said that planners are “taking a closer look at the 10-mile evacuation plan,” because all four hospitals and several nursing homes would be evacuated as part of that plan.

SOME OF THE hospitals are “jumpy,” Grottenthaler said, but he added that there is always a sense of nervousness “when you realize the implications of moving” hospital patients.

Dr. Stanley Smith, county medical director, said the plans are going “very nicely,” but the planning is creating a certain “nervousness.” He added that people must understand that “the more organized we are, the better off it (possible evacuation) will come.”

The hospitals and nursing homes are still faced with a staffing problem, but some staff members have returned to the area and others persons have volunteered to help. Smith said staff members have to take up residence in the hospitals. The institutions are now able to carry on with what personnel they have, he added.

The county is being assisted in planning by the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency and the federal Defense Civil Preparedness Agency. The county has a liaison officer with both agencies as well as a representative from the Pennsylvania National Guard.

Those officials are helping to line up equipment and personnel which would be needed in the event of an evacuation, Molly said.

Newspaper: The Patriot
Date: April 3, 1979
Title: Most School Districts in Area Expect to Reopen Wednesday
Author: John Troutman and Bob Gentzel, Staff Writers

With reports that the nuclear crisis at Three Mile Island appears to be easing and the state Department of Education applying pressure, most area school districts will reopen Wednesday.

The education department’s pressure on school districts, which fall outside a five-mile radius of the plant, to reopen is being applied even though most school buses throughout the area are supposed to be on standby in the event an evacuation is ordered.

Kevin Molloy, director of the Dauphin County Office of Emergency Preparedness, said he was “very concerned” about schools reopening and indicated he planned to discuss this matter with state officials.

As of late Monday, the following school districts had announced the resumption of all classes Wednesday morning:

East Shore-Central Dauphin, Derry Twp., Susquehanna Twp. and the Dauphin County Technical School.

West Shore-Camp Hill, Cumberland Valley, East Pennsboro Area, Mechanicsburg Area, Northern York County and Cumberland-Perry Area Vocational-Technical School.

The Capital Area Intermediate Unit also announced the resumption of all special education classes Wednesday, and the Diocese of Harrisburg announced that all Catholic schools in Dauphin, Cumberland, York, Lebanon and Lancaster counties would reopen Tuesday.

Benjamin F. Turner, superintendent of the Harrisburg School District, said city schools “probably will be reopened Wednesday” if adequate staff can be summoned.

He said many staff members have left the area with their families and school officials will spend Tuesday “trying to recall staff and getting the word out that we want to reopen Wednesday.”

Classes in the Lower Dauphin School District will resume Wednesday for all students except those living in Conewago and Londonberry townships, municipalities which fall within a five-mile radius of the plant, according to Henry Hoerner, school superintendent.

Hoerner said that Conewago and Londonberry elementary schools will remain closed indefinitely and all secondary students living within the two townships also would be excused from classes until further notice.

OFFICIALS OF the Steelton-Highspire School District said Monday night that no decision had yet been made on reopening, but 24 hours’ notice would be given before schools are reopened.

The Middletown School District will remain closed indefinitely since all district schools fall within a five-mile radius of the plant.

West Shore School District will open all buildings except the Newberry Elementary School Wednesday morning, said Jacob N. Wentzel, superintendent.

He added that “students living within five miles of Three Mile Island will continue to be excused from attendance until further notice.”

Friday, three West Shore Schools-Newberry, Fishing Creek Elementary, and Red Land High School, were evacuated by civil defense officials when schools in five miles were ordered closed. But Wentzel said Fishing Creek and Red Land are just outside the five-mile limit, and were evacuated as a precaution.

In Perry County, civil defense officials said three of the four school districts that were closed Monday in case they were needed as evacuation centers will reopen Tuesday.

David Fry, county civil defense director, said classes would resume Tuesday in West Perry, Newport, and Greenwood school districts.

FRY SAID the Susquenita School District, the only Perry County District to fall within a 20-mile evacuation ring from the nuclear generating plant, will remain closed Tuesday, but will reopen Wednesday if the emergency is lifted.

He said the schools were originally closed by superintendents after being advised by civil defense officials that the county’s fleet of school buses should be on standby to help move up to 9,000 county residents who reside within 20 miles of Three Mile Island.

The announcement of school reopenings were issued in rapid-fire order this morning between Robert Scanlon, secretary of the department of education, the executive directors of three Central Pennsylvania intermediate units, and several district superintendents.

Department spokeswoman Ann Witmer said Scanlon “encouraged the districts to reopen as soon as they possibly can.”

He also told the educators that school districts outside a five-mile radius of Three Mile Island will be required to make up any days they missed because of the nuclear incident “much as they would a snow day,” she said.

Since the governor asked that schools within the five miles be closed and that request still stands, those schools wont be required to make up those lost days, she said. Thus, Middletown wouldn’t be required to make up any days, because all its schools are within five miles.

BUT SHE said no final decision has been made on the status of West Shore and Lower Dauphin, which have some schools within the five-mile radius.

Those districts may be required to make up the days lost by pupils whose schools lie outside the five-mile radius.

West Shore Superintendent Wentzel said that if the department does require some of his schools to make up days, “I have a problem with that. I think we were placed in an unusual hardship.”

If the district is forced to make up days, they will be made up by all schools, including Newberry Elementary, he said.

Several districts which had closed had said they couldn’t operate Monday because of the numbers of teachers and pupils who had left the area, and others had expressed concern about the possibility of having pupils in schools when an evacuation was ordered.

But Scanlon promised the educators he would recommend to Thornburgh that in the event a “planned evacuation” becomes necessary, the announcement be made “outside school hours,” Witmer said.

And word that the governor was pressing to have schools reopened-relayed locally by Capital Area Intermediate Unit Director D. Bruce Conner, who attended the meeting with Scanlon-was read by many school officials as a signal that the greatest danger had passed.

Mechanicsburg Superintendent Charles E. Shields said he decided to reopen based on the governor’s request, coupled with reports that the nuclear reactor was being brought under control and a decision on evacuation was being “postponed.”

Harrisburg’s Turner said he was not upset over the school district having to make up the missed days.

Newspaper: The Patriot
Date: April 3, 1979
Title: Humane Society has Evac Plans
Author: Unknown

Plans have been made to evacuate animals from the Harrisburg Humane Society to other animal shelters should a mass evacuation be called for, according to Mrs. Blair Claybaugh, president of the local group.

The animals would be taken to the Women’s Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, using ambulances from both the local and Philadelphia society.

And a large U-haul van has been reserved to take the rest of the approximately 300 animals presently housed at the shelter, should such an evacuation become necessary.

Mrs. Claybaugh urged pet owners to make every effort to take their pets with them should they leave the area. “We are already experiencing problems with hurt animals, apparently owned animals that have been abandoned when their owners left the Harrisburg area,” she said.

“No one likes to see the broken bones and bashed in faces of animals hit by cars” she said “and we therefore urge compassion for pets as well as people in this time of crisis.”

Mrs. Claybaugh said “while we cannot refuse to accept animals at our shelter, we cannot be responsible for their ultimate safety.”

Mrs. Claybaugh said the society would appreciate financial aid and volunteer help if the animals must be evacuated.

Newspaper: The Patriot
Date: April 3, 1979
Title: First Baby Born to Evacuee in Midst of Nuclear Scare
Author: Tom Kelchner, Staff Writer

Picture Caption: This 5-pound, 10 ounce unnamed baby girl will have a lot to talk about when she gets older. Her mother, Mrs. Cynthia Simpson of Harrisburg, was at the Hersheypark Arena evacuation center prior to delivering her baby Monday morning at Holy Spirit Hospital.

As one might expect in an evacuation center full of pregnant women, nature took its course Monday.

One of the evacuees at Hersheypark Arena delivered the child she was expecting and five more could be along at any time, according to Red Cross Shelter Manager Bruce Beaton.

Cynthia Simpson, 24, of 1949 (illegible) Road, was taken from the shelter to Holy Spirit Hospital Monday morning and delivered a 5-pound, 10-ounce daughter at 11:10 a.m. hospital officials said.

Beaton said there are five other expectant mothers among the 200 (illegible) who are staying at the center.

The center is equipped to cope with any births which might occur on short notice, he said.

A fully equipped obstetrics room staffed by registered nurses and a physician has been set up at the center in addition to a staffed infirmary, he said.

Red Cross and Herco staff fed supper to 216 persons Monday evening, he said, after the group watched a magician and Walt Disney movies throughout the day.

“Hershey Arena people are really great,” Beaton said.

“Anything we want we ask they get it, they’re really super. Every request we’ve had they’ve honored.”
About 55 evacuees from Frey Village Retirement Center in Middletown have settled into the South Mountain Restoration Center in Franklin County after being transported there Saturday in buses and ambulances, according to center administrator Donald Downs.

The center, run by the state Department of Public Welfare, has facilities to handle 1,000 residents but only had about 750 before the evacuees arrived, Downs said.

An additional 16 residents of the Homeland Nursing Home at 1901 N. Fifth St. were taken to South Mountain, he said.

“They survived the trip very well, they’re comfortable and well fed,” he said.

About 30 staff members at the center have volunteered to work double shifts of 16 hours and volunteers have helped the evacuees when they arrived and since, Downs said.

“We’re prepared to take care of them until the crisis is over,” he said.

Another 21 Homeland residents were sent to a second evacuation center in Franklin County on the campus of Wilson College in Chambersburg, this weekend, according to Homeland Resident coordinator Ginny Capp.

Capp said the 21 at Wilson are staying in Disert Hall Dormitory and are taking their meals at college dining facilities.

“In a way it was a big adventure for them,” she said.

“School students (from Wilson) have been coming down and talking to residents to help them along and cheer them up,” she said.

Capp said she and the residents found Chambersburg peaceful after “the high anxiety level in Harrisburg.”

Newspaper: The Patriot
Date: April 3, 1979
Title: Mass Transit Figures in Exit
Author: Randy Myers, Staff Writer

Area transportation industries and related concerns figure prominently in the mass evacuation plans of county and state emergency officials.

Those industries were affected widely over the weekend in the wake of voluntary evacuation by thousands of area residents fleeing potential disaster at the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station.

Gasoline and bus ticket sales soared over the three-day period.

Gas station managers throughout Dauphin, Cumberland and York counties reported sales increases varying from 20 to 300 percent.

A spokesman for Greyhound Bus Lines in Harrisburg said ridership out of Harrisburg on Friday, Saturday and Sunday was about 40 percent higher than during the same period last year.

Spokesmen at both Trailways Bus Lines and Capital Area Transit said ridership was normal for the three-day period.

At Harrisburg International Airport, spokesmen for TWA and Alleghany airlines said ridership was normal, and a spokesman for Altair Airlines said passenger counts were down.

AN AMTRACK spokeswoman said passenger traffic to and from Harrisburg was normal throughout the weekend.

The greatest effect on transportation was evidenced in gasoline sales, with at least one station running out of fuel as early as noon Saturday.

Ralph Glatfelter said a 40 percent increase in sales emptied pumps at his York County Exxon station in Dover at noon Saturday.

“Friday was ridiculous,” Glatfelter said, and by Monday things weren’t much different.

“$2, $1.85, $3” were the size of many purchases, he said.

“Gallons per sale were lower than normal,” he said, indicating a higher volume of customers purchasing smaller amounts of gas.

Al Dolatoski customers were making the same kinds of purchases at his Sunoco Station in Camp Hill, where “sales went way up; more than double what we usually do.”

“I noticed a lot of people filling up, even if it only took $1.50, they were topping it off. I guess they figured they’d get as far as possible,” Dolatoski said.

IN MIDDLETOWN, increased purchases at Bob’s Citgo Sales on Friday and Saturday proved to be predictions of slow business on Monday, when many local customers had already left town.

Station manager Jack Etter said sales, mostly fill-ups, jumped nearly 40 percent Friday and were about normal Saturday.

But on Monday, only two of 10 persons who had appointments to have their cars serviced showed up, and gas sales were not exceptional, Etter said.

In New Cumberland, Paul Ramsey said sales at his Arco station at Front and Bridge streets doubled normal rates over the weekend.

Business was “extremely hectic” and by 5 p.m. Sunday his station was out of gas, Ramsey said.
“The majority of the people coming through have suitcases and small children. They’re still leaving,” Ramsey said Monday.

On Sunday, New Cumberland Mayor Leonard Sorenson said about 15 percent of the borough’s residents had fled the area.

At Paul’s Amoco Station on Linglestown Road in Linglestown, weekend sales tripled sales figures for the preceding weekend, according to owner Paul Rowe.

ROWE SAID Friday’s sales alone doubled the amount of gas his station sold Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the previous weekend.

City residents also apparently flocked to gas pumps over the weekend.

Joe Thomas said sales at both his T&L Arco Service Centers were double normal rates on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

He said business returned to normal Monday.

Leondard Lehman said business at his Gulf Station at19th and Paxton streets was “a little above average” Friday and Saturday, with Friday night being “hectic at first.”

“Older folks were gassing up getting ready to leave,” Lehman said.

While many residents filled up their cars’ gas tanks either in preparation to leave or on their way out of town, Troop State Police in Harrisburg said highways leading into and out of the area were carrying light traffic.

“Traffic patterns have changed, if anything they have gotten lighter,” a police spokesman said.

The spokesman said there has been “a great deal of movement of campers and trucks with camper tops in all directions. It’s a bit early for that type of movement.”

He said traffic coming into the Harrisburg area has been light.

BUSINESS BY Harrisburg bus lines did not contribute to the weekend’s lighter traffic, with Greyhound reporting a substantial increase in ridership and Trailways reporting normal traffic.

W.V. Dailey, city manager for Greyhound Bus Lines in Central Pennsylvania, said weekend ticket sales were 40 percent higher than sales during the same weekend last year.

He said average sales so far this year have been about the same as figures from 1978.

“A lot of people appear to be taking the opportunity to go places they might not have gone otherwise,” Dailey said Monday.

He said trips of “a couple hundred miles” have been popular, with destinations including Pittsburgh, Scranton, and Washington D.C.

Both Dailey and Gerald Smith, vice president of traffic for Capitol Trailways in Harrisburg, said their companies’ buses could be used to transport area residents should an evacuation be ordered.

“We have been in contact with (state) civil defense planners and experts and are willing to help as much as we can if an evacuation was necessary,” Dailey said.

Greyhound maintains about 60 buses in Harrisburg and has 3,000 vehicles licensed in Pennsylvania, he said.

Dailey said he has been attempting to stockpile equipment in the perimeter areas around the Harrisburg area.

Smith said county emergency preparedness officials would determine Trailways’ role in any evacuation operation.

“Right now, we’re under the auspices of the Harrisburg Police Department. If they order buses to move people out, we’ll be right there to help,” Smith said.

Lt. Carroll T. Wagner, personnel and training officer of staff and technical services for the Harrisburg Police Department, said city school buses, CAT buses and Trailways buses would operate from dispatch centers at their respective terminals in the event of an evacuation.

Wagner said the buses would pick up city residents at 39 strategic points throughout the city.
AT HARRISBURG International Airport, the three operating airlines reported fairly normal passenger traffic and said they have not been contacted by any emergency preparedness officials about the use of the airlines as evacuation modes.

Barry Beaver, customer service agent for TWA in Harrisburg, said there was a slight increase in outbound traffic over the weekend, while inbound traffic remained normal.

Beaver said despite the airport’s location less than two miles from the nuclear power site, there have been no disruption in passenger service.

“We can’t pretend it’s not happening, but everything has been operating normally,” Beaver said.
Dave Shipley, public relations director for Alleghany Airlines, said passenger loads have been normal both entering and leaving Harrisburg.

At Altair Airlines, customer service agent Mark roach said the number of no-show passengers who had booked reservations had increased since Wednesday’s accident.

The number of passengers buying tickets at the terminal was smaller than normal, and “inbound traffic was definitely less,” Roach said.

Though the airline had not been approached about its role in any possible evacuation, Roach said company personnel were keeping abreast of the situation at the power plant.

Amtrak’s director of public affairs for the Northeast Corrider, Lois Morasco, said the national rail network has not been approached about any evacuation procedures.

“We stand ready to help, but at this time we have not been called upon and I know of no plans to include us in any mass evacuation plan,” Morasco said.