THREE MILE ISLAND NUCLEAR GENERATING STATION

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'Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station' is a civilian nuclear power plant located on an island (Three Mile Island) in the Susquehanna River near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States. Its name is derived not from the size of the island, but from the fact that TMI is three miles downriver from Middletown, Pennsylvania. It was built with two pressurized water reactors, TMI-1 and TMI-2. The plant is most well known for being the site of the worst civilian nuclear accident in United States history when in 1979 TMI-2 suffered a partial meltdown. The core of TMI-2 has since been removed from the site.
The plant was originally built by General Public Utilities Corporation, later renamed GPU Inc., and operated by Metropolitan Edison Company (Met-Ed), a GPU subsidiary. Following the accident at TMI-2, the plant was transferred under the ownership and operation of a new subsidiary company, GPU Nuclear (GPUN). GPUN continued to operate TMI-1 until its 1998 sale to AmerGen Energy Corporation, a joint venture of Philadelphia Electric Company Energy Inc. (PECO Energy) and British Energy Group Plc. PECO's share in AmerGen was acquired by Exelon Corporation in 2000, after that company was formed from the merger of PECO and Unicom Corporation. Exelon acquired British Energy's share in AmerGen in 2003, and transferred the plant under the direct ownership and operation of its Exelon Nuclear business unit.
The damaged and deactivated TMI-2 remained under GPUN ownership until 2001, when GPUN was acquired and absorbed by First Energy Corporation. First Energy continues to own TMI-2, but has subcontracted the maintenance and management of the site to AmerGen Energy from 2001-2003, and Exelon Nuclear from 2003-present.

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Unit One

Popular Culture References

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Unit One

TMI-1 is an 850 (originally 816) MWe pressurized water reactor supplied by Babcock and Wilcox. It came online on April 19, 1974, and is licensed to operate through April 19, 2014. When TMI-2 suffered its meltdown in 1979, TMI-1 was offline for refueling. It came back online in October 1985, after a number of technical, legal, and regulatory complications. In 2004, TMI-1 generated 7,273,245 MWh of electricity at a capacity factor of 98.9%.

Popular Culture References

The Plant has been shown several times on the MTV show ''Viva la Bam'', first on episode 7: "April's Revenge" in the first season, and again on episode 4: "Mardi Gras Pt. 1" in the second season. In addition, the reactors are referenced in the motion picture ''Men in Black'', starring Will Smith, and Tommy Lee Jones. In the movie, Tommy Lee Jones shows Will Smith pictures of various disguised alien ships, which include Three Mile Island, and the Unisphere from the 1964 New York World's Fair.
The plant is also mentioned in issue 4 of the comic . According to the story, the meltdown at Three Mile Island was caused by the attempt from scientists of Sector 7 to extract matter from the Allspark Cube.
It gets a mention in the simspsons episode "King-Size Homer" from series 7 when Homer stops a "potential Chernobyl" also.
Wrestler Adam Bomb was billed from Three Mile Island.
The song "War All The Time" by the band Thursday has a lyric that is a possible reference to the 1979 accident.
Visit to Three Mile Island location chronicled by O.T.I.S.: Odd Things I've Seen.
The 1979 Saturday Night Live sketch "Pepsi Syndrome" is an allusion to the Three Mile Island accident and the movie ''The China Syndrome''.

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