Three Mile Island The Meltdown Crisis and Nuclear Power in American Popular Culture Critical Moments in American History Series

Three Mile Island explains the far-reaching consequences of the partial meltdown of Pennsylvania?s Three Mile Island power plant on March 28, 1979. Though the disaster was ultimately contained, the fears it triggered had an immediate and lasting impact on public attitudes towards nuclear energy in the United States. In this volume, Grace Halden contextualizes the events at Three Mile Island and the ensuing media coverage, offering a gripping portrait of a nation coming to terms with technological advances that inspired both awe and terror. Including a selection of key primary documents, this book offers a fascinating resource for students of the history of science, technology, the environment, and Cold War culture.

Preface: Nuclear Culture

Chapter One: Atoms for War: World War II and the Cultural History of Early Nuclear Development

Chapter Two: Atoms for Peace: Nuclear Power, and the Influence of the Long-1960s

Chapter Three: When Science and Society Collide: The Three Mile Island Accident in Human Context

Chapter Four: Nuclear Reactions: Three Mile Island in Popular Culture

Chapter Five: Fears and Fallout: Three Mile Island’s Legacy, Chernobyl, and Fukushima

Grace Halden is Lecturer in Modern and Contemporary Literature at Birkbeck College, University of London.