PaulPallazola
March 28,1979
My last week as an employee of the Clamshell Alliance was drawing to a close. I was preparing to move back to Gloucester, depressed & uncertain about my future & the future of the anti-nuclear movement.Our attempted blockade at Seabrook had been unsuccessful. A Jane Fonda film seemed to be causing more discussion about nuclear safety than months of hard work by hundreds of activists. A freak occurence at a nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania would soon change all that.
As fate would have it, the hours of tireless conversations with folks from newspapers and TV stations around America would pay off big time that week. For several years while we engaged in protests, lobbied congressmen, went to jail and did countless acts that appeared ineffective we were educating people, asking the scary “what if ” questions that most people didn’t want to think about. With Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on the verge of a nuclear disaster, people began to take seriously the safety concerns we had raised.
Three Mile Island is like a wet dream compared to Chernobyl or Fukushima
Three Mile Island was a less significant accident than Chernobyl & the still unfolding drama in Fukushima. Pennsylvania was fortunate in that it could have been much worse. Three Mile Island served as a wake up call to the American public that its Atomic reactors were not accident proof and that the dangers of radiation needed to be evaluated when communities considered the construction of nuclear reactors.
Exactly, it was a warning which was heeded and has so far produced a happy ending…
Life is an endless struggle, for ourselves or the wider community, and you are one of the main characters, Paul!
Than you Albert. I think Buckminster Fuller was prophetic when he said, “On Spaceship Earth there are no passengers, everyone is crew”.
Hehehe… You are right, but all crews also consist of various kinds of people and the quality of leadership, is not it?
Wonderful Nice Post !
I remember this diaster. This is one of the reasons that we need to get on the ball and only use solar power, or other sources that don’t have this type of dangers!
Absolutely. The last 8 years has seen a significant growth of solar energy usage in the USA. I fear the current administration does not share the same support for renewable energy sources that has led to that growth. Hopefully public pressure will result in continued support for solar and other safe. renewable energy technologies.