Three-Mile Island: Amateur Radio's Response

Technicians enter the Unit 2 reactor building on Three Mile Island in March 1979. (Courtesy of WikiMedia Commons)

          Former Public Service columnist for CQ Amateur Radio magazine, Bob Josuweit, WA3PZO, served as the ARRL Eastern Pennsylvania Emergency Coordinator for 10 years in the 1970s and early 1980s. On his watch, the United States experienced its only nuclear accident, Three Mile Island (TMI), located along the Susquehanna River south of Harrisburg. TMI is in the ARRL Eastern Pennsylvania section. Here are WA3PZO's recollections of the amateur radio response to the disaster of the March 29, 1979 accident. - Ed.

Harrowing Reflections of a
U.S. Nuclear Meltdown

By Bob Josuweit, WA3PZO

            It was a typical weekday morning. As I ate breakfast I had the local news radio station on catching up on the headlines. The story broke, "Site Emergency Declared at TMI" (6:56 AM). In the Harrisburg area  a call for communications assistance came from the county office of Emergency Preparedness.
           Under the direction of Bob Marziri, WA3AVX (SK), members of the Central Pennsylvania Repeater Association set up communications at the Pennsylvania state capitol in Harrisburg, just 13 miles from TMI, Middletown (the closest town to TMI), the local Red Cross Office, and WHP television/radio, which served as the rumor control center.
          The Club's four repeaters (2 on 146 Mhz, 1 on 220 Mhz, and an RTTY repeater on 2 meters) were utilized to their fullest. Confidential traffic was passed on RTTY for security reasons. The information relayed by amateur radio to WHP had a calming effect on the community, offsetting some of the rumors which were rapidly spreading through the area.

              During the day plans were made to move all operations at the county EOC 30 miles north if it became necessary to evacuate the Harrisburg area. Pennsylvania Governor Thornburg recommended that pregnant women and preschool children within five miles of TMI leave the area.  At this point communications were established at the Red Cross Evacuation Center in Hershey, some eight miles away from TMI.

            Twenty-eight hours after the accident began Lieutenant Governor William Scranton III said that Metropolitan Edison, the plant's owner, had assured the state that "everything is under control".  Later that day, Scranton changed his statement, saying that the situation was "more complex than the company first led us to believe". There were conflicting statements about radiation releases.  Schools were closed and residents were urged to stay indoors. Farmers were told to keep their animals under cover and on stored feed.

            For the next two days the situation remained in a holding pattern as officials attempted to determine the extent of the damage at TMI.

            Friday morning the 'patient' had gone critical. TMI station manager Gary Miller announced a general emergency', defined as having the "potential for serious radiological consequences" to the general public. A hydrogen bubble was expanding inside the damaged reactor. The American Red Cross, Mid-Atlantic Division, in Philadelphia called Josuweit. The message was simple it sent shock waves throughout the state. "There is a possibility of a three-county evacuation - please establish communications." As the day progressed, that figure increased to a possibility of five counties or everything within a 20-mile radius of TMI; population 630,000.

            State government officials quickly developed the evacuation plan. The plan quickly showed the importance of Amateur Radio. Amateur Radio would provide primary communications between areas being evacuated, the evacuation centers, and the headquarters of the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA). Many Pennsylvania counties were preparing to receive between 20,000 and 25,000 evacuees.
            Philadelphia, just 100 miles away, was designated to receive up to 70,000 evacuees. Schools would house between 1,000 and 3,000 evacuees. Each shelter would require Amateur Radio communications 24 hours a day!

            By Monday the patient had stabilized. The hydrogen bubble in the damaged reactor was reduced. The need for evacuation was not as great. However amateur radio operators were still at their stations 10 days after the accident when the Governor lifted his recommendation for people to stay out of the affected area. Little, if any health and welfare traffic came into the affected area. 

            The citizens of Pennsylvania placed a huge responsibility on the state's amateur radio operators in providing communications. They met the challenge. Like many, they left their families behind to provide a service to the community, not knowing what challenges or health risks lie ahead.

            Since TMI, amateur radio operators have played an important role providing communications during regularly scheduled nuclear power plant exercises. It is safe to say that since TMI Pennsylvania hams have remained RADIOactive. 

Bob Josuweit, WA3PZO, vividly recalls the events surrounding the nuclear meltdown at Three Mile Island in 1979 - when he served as ARRL Eastern Pennsylvania Emergency Coordinator. (Courtesy of WA3PZO)