on this we can talk to randall thompson he's a member of the cleanup team following the three mile island power plant accident but i understand we've just lost our connection with mr thompson and i hope that we can reconnect with him to hear what he has to say a little later here apologies for that meantime the fate of millions of japanese as i say threatened by a nuclear disaster doesn't mind keyed in the hands of just those few people those remaining engineers fifty of them known as the faceless fifty and this is a team of workers as i say putting their lives on the line as we know that they have made some progress by all accounts we've heard that electrical supplies have been restored and there is a chance of reactivating those water pumps will weaken our knowledge join our guest i believe. mr thompson are you there. can you hear me there sorry we lost the connection a little earlier. i can hear you fine great now i am i seeing a little earlier that you took part in the cleanup operation at the three mile island nuclear power plant that happened in pennsylvania back in one hundred seventy nine can

in 1979, there was a partial meltdown in the reactor at the three mile island power plant near harrisburgylvania. it raised fear about the dangers of nuclear power and it happened 32 years ago today. elaine quijano reports. >> reporter: at 4:00 a.m. on a wednesday, water pumps for the cooling system inside three mile island's unit two stopped. the nuclear reactor automatically shuts down. >> the station emergency alarm was going on and on. >> reporter: as 27-year-old systems operator tom kauffman arrived for his 6:30 shift, pressure inside the reactor is rising. >> when i went in to the control room, it was all business. there was no panic. there was no fear. >> reporter: but because of mechanical and human errors, a release valve is left open. forcing out cooling water and causing the reactor core to overheat. >> the temperature kept building up and building up to the point where about half of the fuel in the nuclear reactor got too hot, it melted. >> reporter: by late morning small amounts of radioactive gases are detected off site. at the nuclear regulatory commission in suburban washi

tragic accident which occurred in the united states in one nine hundred seventy nine i p three mile island power plant which is part of the state of pennsylvania and now i'm joined by take form work was the governor of pennsylvania at the time sir thank you so much for joining us thank you guy and well first of all what do you think about the comparison well there's an. eerie similarity between what's happening in japan today and what happened in pennsylvania in one nine hundred seventy nine. there are obviously differences because we didn't have to deal with a record earthquake or aftershocks or following tsunami but the technical challenges are pretty much the same so what happened to this three mile island was a partial core of meltdown in one of the reactors how bad were the consequences back then at the time i we had no sense of what really transpired it took a long time to complete the cleanup process and determine precisely how much damage had been done but about a third of the radioactive core had melted down prior to the. the reactor being brought under control and that was serious how costly

the soil and seawater. >>> today is actually the 32nd anniversary of the accident at three mile island nuclear power plant pennsylvania. that's the worst nuclear disaster in american history. >>> former president jimmy carter arrives in cuba today for a three-day visit. he's expected to meet with president raul castro. to try to intervene on behalf of an american contractor recently sentenced to 15 years in prison. >>> and we could find out who is holding the sole winning ticket to that staggering mega million jackpot. there's word that seven state workers will be splitting the grand prize prize. >> for some of you your local news is next. body. my doctor diagnosed it as fibromyalgia, thought to be the result of overactive nerves that cause chronic, widespread pain. lyrica is believed to calm these nerves. i learned lyrica can provide significant relief from fibromyalgia pain. and less pain means i can do more with the ones i love. [ female announcer ] lyrica is not for everyone. lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new

iodine has now spread a mile farther north in the ocean near the plant. >>> 32 years ago today the u.s. suffered its worst nuclear accident at pennsylvania's three mile island power energy in america just as japan's disaster will likely change its future. karen travers joins us from washington. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. those images out of japan have sparked concern among americans but so far you're not seeing any lawmakers calling for a halt for president obama's nuclear program. the partial meltdown at three mile island back in 1979 had a crippling effect on the u.s. nuclear power program. since then not a single new plant has been ordered in the united states. that changed last year. president obama announced his administration would put more than $8 billion in federal loan guarantees toward america's first nuclear power plant in 30 years. >> to meet our growing energy needs and prevent the worse consequence of climate change we'll need to increase our supply of nuclear power. >> reporter: in the wake of the disaster in japan, president obama and nuclear experts have expressed confidence. they say u.s. power plants are safe. that may not be enou

power. today is the 32nd anniversary of the three mile island nuclear power plant accident. >>> entertainment weekly says the last episode of the oprah winfrey show will air on may 25th. no word on yet who the final guest will be. she is ending her show to move on to the new cable network that has recently launched. >>> thousands of fans gathered to watch britney spears. the bill graham auditorium was packed with fans yesterday. many lined up since early in the morning. that concert was free but still ended up costing some fans a lot of money when the ticks went quickly online. one fan paid $500 for five tickets. spears performed three songs from her new album. >>> it's far from a done deal. the 49ers are already getting ready to start work on building a new stadium in santa clara. they will install fire hydrants. they will be moving utility poles and conducting environmental tests on the proposed site. last week the city decided to give the team money before state lawmakers take it away. the government plan calls for redistricting plans. >>> coming up on 6:00. let's go back over to sal. what

power. today by the way is the 32nd anniversary of the three mile island nuclear power plant. >>> they are facing a fine from the nfl. the league is considering the fine because of an on field throwing session between coach jim harbaugh and quarterback alex smith. it happened last month during the nfl's designated down time period. the team is also facing a fine after vernon davis tweeted after watching film and working on his play book. >>> we will toss it right to sal who is watching our commute. sal. >> good morning,. traffic is moving along okay if you are driving on highway 4. it's busy in antioch. here in bay point it does ease up. if you're driving to the bay bridge toll plaza you will see a little bit of a backup. it has not become all that bad. things are only backed up to the middle of that parking lot. and northbound 101 san jose that traffic is moderate. let's go to steve. >>> thank you. we do have patchy low clouds around. thankfully there will not be any rain around. we need time to -- things look much quieter this week. today will be a lot of upper 50s to low to mid 60s. temperatur

the club of the three mile island nuclear- power plant had a partial meltdown when the crisis ended fivetively small amounts of radiation escaped, and no one was immediately hurt. it's marked each year by a vigil. this year it's dedicated to the victims of japan's earthquake and tsunami. a train derailment forced evacuations of homes in ohio. it through nearly 100 cars of platonic one tank car is caring among their concerns that one could be leaking. emergency officials estimate this could take two days for the cleanup. >> mark: a snake on lists of forcing his duty clause close its reptile house. it is believed to be in an isolated part of the building because snakes are not comfortable in open places. the reptile house will remain closed until the snake is found. >> darya: bay area bargains a live look of seven san jose a little bit of wind is shaking the camera. it is 49 degrees with a high of 66 this . >> george: acting hotspot, an unexpected ride to the oakland airport, interstate 580. talking to bay area weather, a big one on the way could see a short, it doesn't look like much. >>

we are faced with the remote but very real possibility of a nuclear meltdown at the three mile island atomic power plant. >> reporter: in the confusion after the disaster, an estimated 140,000 people evacuated. president carter visited the site on day five to assess the situation, and to calm the fears of a nation. >> do not know at this point. >> reporter: for ten days state and federal officials struggled to understand the situation and control what was officially termed a partial core meltdown in unit two of three mile island. the reactor never recovered. and cleanup lasted until 1990. reactor two, the site of the partial meltdown at three mile island, was permanently shut down, and hazardous materials removed off site. reactor number one received approval to restart in 1985 and has been licensed to operate until april of 2034. rebecca? >> betty, thank you. and joining us is former pennsylvania governor dick thornberg. he was just 68 days into his term when the three mile island accident occurred. great to have you with us, governor. and this obviously was the first time we ever saw a nuclear inciden

any nuclear power plants and therefore they're having to come to the government to borrow money going to wall street stop lending money for nuclear power plants. before the three mile island accident around one thousand nine hundred sixty nine hundred seventy seven and the reason that they stopped doing it was because. the costs of these plants kept soaring many plants were canceled and they and investors lost huge amounts of money there was then a three mile island accident sort of really drove it home because while the accident itself didn't result in a catastrophic release and the containment worked. the a multi-billion dollar investment was lost in less than an hour that's that's there and you can see in at this time wall street still won't touch these reactors with a ten foot pole and so you'd think that the advocates of the free market. would not be the advocates of nuclear power although they seem to be this is all i think it's a be ok to cry for is a big contradiction because those who do advocate you know less and less role of the government here are insisting on unfettered access to the u.s. treasury for nuclear power. yeah i mean you suggested that the the ener

andrew knocked out power to the turkey point plant south of miami for five days but the plant survived. nuclear power supporters point out that even the accident at three mile islandn 1979 did not result in the disaster first feared and the newest generation of nuclear power plants is built to an even higher standard. and although diablo canyon here sits right on the coast, geologists say a tsunami as big as the one that hit japan is unlikely here. katie? >> couric: john blackstone, john thank you. coming up next, libya. qaddafi's forces retake more territory from the rebels using bombs and piles of cash. bombs and piles of cash. i've had asthma for 11 years... ...but my symptoms kept coming back... ...kept coming back. then i found out advair helps prevent symptoms from happening in the first place. advair is for asthma that's not well controlled on a long-term asthma medicine, such as an inhaled corticosteroid. advair will not replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. advair contains salmeterol which increases the risk of death from asthma problems and may increase the risk of hospitalization in children and adolescents. advair is not for people whose asthma

nuclear power plants, but to put the brakes on right now until we understand the ramifications of what's happened in japan. final word of reassurance to the american people. since three mile island, we upgraded safety standards for our nuclear power plants. right now, no plant can be built unless it can withstand the known highest earthquake in that geographic area, plus some margin of safety. >> schieffer: so, so.... >> so this is part of what we do we do. >> schieffer: what you're saying is we should have a moratorium now on building nuclear plants, that we should just kind of stop and kind of reassess? >> yeah. i've been a big supporter of nuclear power, because it's domestic, it's ours and it's clean. but we've had a good safety with nuclear power plants here in the united states. but i think we've got to... i don't want to stop the building of nuclear power plants but i think we've got to kind of quietly and quickly put the brakes on until we can absorb what has happened in japan as a result of the earthquake and the tsunami and then see what more, if anything, we can demand of the new power plants that are coming online. we've got 104 nuclear power plants in america now. i

ambassador to the united states concedes part of the fuel rods inside the power plant may be melting. but as with three-mile island79 there may not be a crisis. >> there was a considerable melting of the core but essentially all of the material was contained in the concrete containment. namely very little of it was released. >> reporter: the nuclear regulatory commission says the west coast of the u.s. is not in danger. >> even if there were a significant release it would be dispersed probably before it came to the united states. but at the present time it seems unlikely that there will be a major radio active release. >> reporter: as long as the reactor core is covered during pooling, it is less threatening to the public as each day goes by. linda yee, cbs5. >>> now the latest from japan. incredible new images of the tsunami that devastated the island nation. water pushing into a narrow bay lifting boats and pushing everything over a sea wall. moving everything in its path from cars to houses. water eventually rushes through the neighborhood turning streets into raging rivers. boats were crushed when being forced

japan factor well there's no question that the three mile island accident stock the development of nuclear power coal in its tracks there hasn't been a single plant commissioned since that time. and i don't think this is very good news for the nuclear industry happenings and japp in the interesting because prior to this episode in japan there was a resurgence of interest in including nuclear power in the mix as we attempted to free ourselves from reliance on foreign oil and still unable to get on to exactly exactly what. i think that probably has dissipated somewhat with concern about what's happened in japan now again we have to keep in mind number one we don't really know what the outcome of this is going to be what the lessons learned will be from the japanese experience how do we understand what actually. and on that i found that maybe for those nuclear fuel rods it sounds bad but i don't really know what that can be though the nuclear fuel rods are three mile island more exposed we had a what's called a partial meltdown that did not produce any environmental or health. adverse consequences later study showed but sifting all that out takes a

tsunami waves and landslides are now terrified by the project of a three-mile island like radiation disaster from nuclear power plantsthe state of fukushima. the of missing persons has surged into the thousands with most of the residents of one coastal town still unaccounted for. the nation is now bracing for the near certainty of more powerful aftershocks, up to magnitude 7 in the next few days. without power, the pillars of japan's export dependent company are all but paralyzed. factories for toyota, honda, nissan and sony have been damaged or forced to close because of the outages. as monday approaches there are fears of a stock exchange crashment all the while anger is rising over what some see as the government's flat-footed response to and inability to foresee the crisis at its nuclear power plant. for sunday morning, this is lucy craft in tokyo. >> osgood: we have correspondents all across japan and we'll be hearing more from them throughout the morning. in libya, troops loyal to moammar qaddafi are continuing to make in-roads against rebel forces. the arab league has asked the u.n. security council to impose

three-mile island nuclear meltdown in pennsylvania. >>> events in japan raising questions about whether u.s. nuclear power plants are prepared as they should be. an associated press investigation finds some are more susceptible to dangers from power failure than others. u.s. regulators know a power failure lasting a couple of days could lead to a radioactive leak, but they have only required plants to develop plans for dealing with much shorter blackouts. the damaged plant in japan has enough battery power on site to power emergency cooling systems only for eight hours. that obviously was not enough time for power to be restored. >>> you can learn more about california's quake, tsunami and nuclear plant preparedness tonight at uc berkeley. bay area experts will talk about whether california faces similar risks as japan and potential damage. the panel discussion from 5:30 to 7:00 tonight on the uc campus. >>> meanwhile, a former oakland a's slugger will testify today in the barry bonds perjury trial. jason giambi is expected to take the stand. yesterday bonds' long-time mistress kimberly bell told the court how b

three-mile island plant. the impact on the local population was essentially zero. >> u.c. berkeley engineering team discussed the impact on the power plant. increase of 1,000 times normal radiation in the control room. experts say those levels are not drowsinessly, they are certainly concerned that there is any radiation leak at all. nuclear engineering professor says this type of leak is unprecedented. >> the leak was so gigantic that there is a high probability that the containment and pressure vessel were damaged. so, it should be combined in the containment systems is now leaking into a control room and eventually to the environment. >> the professor says it should take engineers two to three days to cool down the reattacker and avoid any further radiation releases. after the earthquake, the tsunami, biggest wave was a monstrous 23 feet high. you assembling how it compares to a person. it took about seven hours and 30 minutes to travel from japan to hawaii, then another two hours and ten minutes to get to us in the bay area. the area that took the brunt of it, santa cruz. one large surge hit around 4:30 this afternoon. here is

three mile island disaster of 1979. japan is desperately trying to reconnect power to critical cooling systems at the fukushima power plantfire engines are blasting tons of water into the hot zone. nbc's brian moore reports. >> reporter: tons of water, the difference between salvation and catastrophe at japan's stricken nuclear plant. >> the situation remains very serious. but there's been no significant worsening since yesterday. the cloud billowing from the fukushima plant on wednesday was all but gone thursday, but the possibility of a meltdown is still very real. president obama is promising whatever help the united states can muster. >> we're sharing expertise, equipment and technology so that the courageous responders on the scene have the benefit of american teamwork and support. >> reporter: u.s. experts believe it could be weeks before this emergency is resolved and americans are being urged to flee a 50-mile area around the plant. on our shores, radiation monitoring has been stepped up on the west coast as a precaution. >> we do not expect harmful levels of radiation to reach the west coast, hawaii, alaska or u.

three mile island. still trying to prevent a meltdown. they are frantically working to lay a new power line to the plant hoping to restore the cooling systems that way. meantime the radio active plume from japan is expected to pass over southern california sometime today. health officials stress by the time the plume travels across the pacific ocean will be so deluted that the risk of radiation exposure will be minuscule. people we spoke with in the bay area heard it's coming. >> i'm concerned but i don't want to think about it. it seems too overwhelming. >> i think it's inconsiderate that people are people are stocking up on the potassium iodine tablets when we should send them over to japan who will be more effected by it. >> they will be checking their radiation monitors in california as the plume passes through. and will alert the public if any dangerous levels are detected. again the levels are expected to been extremely low. >>> antinuclear activists are holding a vigil demonstration today in oakland. they want to show their solidarity with the people of japan and ramp up clean energy alternatives. the group plans to gather at 11th an

nuclear safety officials say that on a scale of 1-7, today's power plant explosion rates a 4, compared to a 5 for the 1979 three mile island accident in pennsylvania and a full 7 for the 1986 chernobyl disaster in the soviet union. elaine quijano has more on the safety wells today's events in japan are raising. >> reporter: experts agree-- the explosion at the fukushima nuclear power plant was most likely caused when a buildup of hydrogen gas ignited. but experts disagree on the potential danger now, even of a melted down. >> that danger is almost vanishingly small. if there was a danger of that, it would have been much more early on in, in the first hour or two after the reactors were shut down. >> reporter: lacy ford, with the industry lobbying group the world nuclear association, says reports that the reactor's main containment unit is intact are an excellent sign. that unit, made out of steel, houses the nuclear fuel itself. >> it's designed to contain the worst conceivable mess inside if everything-- and i mean everything-- goes absolutely wrong. >> reporter: but edwin lyman of the union of concerned scientists sees a

three mile island plant. the impact on the local population was essentially zero. >> reporter: and that was the best-case scenario. we do know right now that people are on-scene at the plant. they have backup power, diane. but they haven't reconnected it yet. now, we are hearing they may release some radioactive steam. to reduce the pressure there. they say they're going to filter out the radiation but experts say that's very difficult to do. >> and of course it depends which way the wind is blowing where it hits. but chris was saying, this is still a serious situation. and all day long, physicist michio kaku has been following the situation with us. so, dr. kaku, at this hour, what do you think of how long it is taking to get the generators back up? >> this is unusual. the first time in history. and remember, the japanese reactors are the safest in the world. but they were never designed to handle an 8.9 earthquake. 7.0, 7.5, but not 8.9. >> and you were showing me, the reactor water, the cooling water, is supposed to be this high above the core, giving some perspective here. what happens when it backs up? how quickly does it burn off? >> well, when the water levels begin to drop and expose the

three-mile island. military fire trucks sprayed the reactor units for a second day. the utility running the plant continues to work on a new power line in an effort to restore the cooling system. >> uc berkeley engineering department continues to collect air samples for any sign of radiation. today they collected rain to see if anything radio active part cells fell from the sky. and we have the story. air samples failed to show levels of radioactivity, then, came the rain. >> rain is efficient way to wash out activity in the atmosphere and get activities down. this is an efficient way for sampling. >> levels may be slightly higher. he seize nothing to worry about. and nuclear engineers showed why it's impossible for fuel rods in japan to catch on fire. this is a piece just like those found in japanese reactor cords. hotter than it could ever get inside of the core. and if this burnt, nuclear fuel would send huge amounts of radioactive part cells into the atmosphere. >> worse to have it on fire. the fire, smoke becomes a way to spread material inside. >> the test proved the rods, while suffering some damage works not catch on fir

national concern is the fate of the touch shima number one nuclear power plant which anti-nuclear critics say could be another three mile island. the plant's operator has very little time to try to contain the gas damage which was triggered by the tsunami. >> lucy, we're going to have more on that just a bit. i heard you last night tell katie couric that you were concerned about your son who lives in the sendai area of japan near the epicenter. you hadn't heard from him since the quake. it's been about 13 hours since that conversation. have you talked to him? >> i'm thrilled to be able to tell you that we suddenly got a phone call from him this morning just before the batteries on his cell phone ran out. he said he was fine, and then afterwards i had a little text message that just said, mom, i'm fine, stop worrying. so, i was thrilled. >> all right. lucy craft we're happy to hear that. thanks a lot. we'll talk to you later. now here's rebecca. >> thank you, russ. the explosion at the fukushima reactor has triggered fears of a nuclear meltdown. with officials declaring states of emergency at five nuclear reactors, cbs news cor

power in this country. after three mile island back in 1979 as a young zpat senator you called on a moratorium for six months on nuclear power plantsunited states. should that hold true now? >> well, i think there ought to be a period here where all of our nuclear plants are tested very, very carefully to make sure that they are safe and to make sure that this cannot happen here. but i don't think that we can say that we're not going to continue to use nuclear power. europe depends heavily on it and they have found it to be safe. we use it a lot. we have found it, since three mile island, to be safe. it seems to me that the great hope that we have ultimately in terms of greenhouse gas is to move away from fossil fuels and although i think we have to be mighty careful about nuclear power we should put a lot of effort into seeing what we can do with the waste that we cannot give up on that possibility because of the climate change which is occurring from fossil fuels. >> senator kerry, about 30 seconds here, how big of a blow has nuclear power, as part of our energy mix, been dealt here? >> well, i think it's taken some hit, obviousl

three mile island accident. >> radio activity is higher than the dose leetle to humans. >> reporter: that meltdown is still considered to be the most serious accident in nuclear power plant history in the u.s. causing widespread panic. disaster was perilously close. however, the worst case happened seven years later in the soviet union. >> there has definitely been a meltdown in the nuclear reactor in chernobyl. >> by far, the biggest collapse, the biggest problem was chernobyl. the only real core fire that we have ever had. it spewed tons of radioactive material in the atmosphere. >> reporter: in the end, experts estimate 4,000 were killed both by the immediate disaster and by radiation-related diseases in the years to come. the chernobyl disaster lacked the concrete shell that is essential for safety. >> three mile island ended nuclear power construction in the united states. krer noble ended most nuclear power construction around the world. >> reporter: in the years since, safety has improved. 30 years after the problem at his plant, the current manager assured me that the repeat of 1979 would be extremely unlikely. that kind of melting is not going to happen again. >

power plants, we take fully into account. certainly at the time of the three mile island episode, there were a tremendous amount of things we applied to the safety of our plants. power reactors are much safer today. we continue to apply unused in areas of different types and never stop our efforts to exercise our capabilities to assess the possibilities and to ensure that our reactors can operate as safely as possible. we will continue to do that. we will -- we know that is a responsibility that is proposed in the nuclear regulatory commission. from a policy perspective, we will continue to operate our reactors. we will continue to seek to build nuclear into our responsible energy future, and we have confidence in the nrc to do this safely. >> i would just add that we have plants in operation with 20% of the energy in the united states. information is still coming in from japan. as we evaluate that information, it is clear that we will incorporate that into how we use safety and security of the nuclear energy as a resource. it remains a part of the president's overall energy plan. when he talks about reaching a clean energy standar

power plant disasters in the world. there was the one in this country at three mile island. there was the one at chernobyl in the old soviet union. just to put perspective on those two, chernobyl was the equivalent of a million three mile islands. so really the question is, are we closer to a three mile situation or are we closer to a chernobyl situation? >> ifill: what's the answer to that? >> i think the answer.... >> ifill: go ahead. >> i think the answer to that question is clearly we're closer to a chernobyl situation. if the event were to stop right now, i'm sorry... i said that exactly wrong. we're clearly closer to a three mile island situation. if the incident was to stop right now, the amount of radioactive release is really very small. and the risk to the general population, just like it was in three mile island, would be very small indeed. of course, we await.... >> ifill: pardon me. understanding that none of us know tonight exactly how much radiation may have been released we have heard some reports and we saw in some of the earlier taped pieces people being wa

three mile island accident happened 32 years ago today. professor richter says the u.s. beefed up safety regulations at nuclear power plants then.september 11th. mary ann favro, nbc bay area news. >> thank you. well the disaster in japan may be felt soon in your garage as well. nbc bay area's business and tech reporter, scott budman live at a south bay car dealer and picks up the story from there. scott. >> jessica, a statistic -- northern california toyota dealers tell us they expect to get 2,000 cars delivered from japan in month of june. they normally sell 6,000 cars in a month. this could soon lead to a big downshift. here at piercy toyota there are still enough parts to get your japanese cars fixed. and lots of new cars if you are shopping for one. but with factories in japan slowing down, and transportation issues mounting, it's about to get a lot tougher to find one of these. >> they're saying, that there will be a lot less cars in the next 120 days. >> brian wrestler is the vice president at piercy. he admits things could slow down here inside bay area service docks, because of what's going on in japan. >> we have a few

building nuclear power plants but to put the brakes on it right now until we understand the ramifications of what's happened in japan. >> reporter: that's what happened after the three mile island mishap in the 1970s and the chernobyl disaster in the soviet union in the 1980s. but with this nation facing a new energy crunch, some sound less than eager to close any doors. >> my thought about it is that we ought not to make american domestic policy based upon an event that happened in japan. >> reporter: still those for and against nuclear power are looking toward japan. >> one of the questions that's raised is how do you plan for serious accidents when you have nuclear power. but ultimately a question that these terrible images poses, is, is this is the cost of nuclear power and are we willing to accept that cost. >> reporter: the nuclear regulatory commission insists u.s. plants are safe and will have a chance to tell the house energy committee at a scheduled hearing on wednesday. brian mooar, nbc news, washington. >>> we have the very latest from japan right now also at nbcbayarea.com. there you'll find additional reports from george and pictures and video of the recovery as w

power. one may agree or disagree, but that is the view of an insider who operates a number of plants, in fact, the three mile island plant today. host: president obama talking about the role of nuclear energy in america's energy portfolio. >> here at home, nuclear power is an important part of our own energy future, along with renewable sources like wind, solar, natural gas, and clean coal. our nuclear power plants have undergone exhaustive studies and been declared safe for any number of extreme contingencies. host: daniel weiss, that was the president last thursday. where does he go from here? guest: his budget is the pathway to invest more money in energy efficiency, which not only produces electricity needs but saves people money, and investment in solar, wind, geode thermal -- the the centralized power systems are not subject to the colossal lawyers. unfortunately the republican budget texas and the exact opposite direction. it would cut $8 billion for investment in clean energy and programs to reduce oil use, the exact opposite way we need to go. host: we're talking with daniel weiss. is website is that ameri

plants across the country. i will say after three-mile island, we have had much more scrutiny of the safety of nuclear power plantschernobyl, world wide we have been much better about it. and that includes quite a few of those reactors that have been built since in japan. host: how does what is happening in japan compared with three mile island? i am looking at an image from the npr website. the incident that happened on march 28, 1979, near harrisburg, pennsylvania. guest: three mile island it is almost on a mini scale in some respects. what happened was operators -- operators shut off the emergency cooling system. the emergency cooling system came on, and they shut it off for about two hours. so the next crew that came on, they turned back the emergency cooling system. within that short space of time, half of the core melted. there are volumes written on what happened at three mile island and why we think certain things happened, but it was certainly a similar case to japan because of this loss of coolant. so that is where the similarity is. when you look at, however, what is happening with japan with multiple r

i know nothing about nuclear power plants other than what i read and my minimal research. i did live north of three mile island accident many years ago. my primary fear is a waste product. he did explain a little bit about it. my understanding -- again, i have no experience or knowledge in that area -- but my concern is containment and human error -- accidental spillage or something like that. that is my fear with nuclear power plants. unless they can make 99.9% stake in every way, then i am not in agreement in pursuing nuclear power -- 9929% safe. in pennsylvania, the residents here are dealing with our politicians and the oil and gas industry pushing for hydraulic fracturing of natural gas. there are so many people in pennsylvania that are against it, yet the politicians are both pushing it even though it is obvious there are many concerns. i am just so shocked that when you try to contact the federal government to intervene and help out the residence to make sure that all regulations are in place so that our groundwater an hour of or furs and our air are going to be protected, there is minimal assistance --

to the issues with the tokyo power plant are going to have very quickly authorities have raised the threat level from four to five which is the same as the three mile island disaster is this the situation is getting worse or should the higher level been there in the for. place probably should have been there in the first place not a nuclear expert but when i've been following the events of the last couple days it's clear that this was a growing disaster from a few days ago and it's i think they should have been raising it pretty high levels soon as far broke and soon as this or looking like a meltdown right well now that tepco the tokyo electric power company has been known for some shady practices in the past and i know that you've grown up an inch ok you've lived there as a journalist based on your understanding of thing you hear industries relationship with the japanese government is there something to indicate that this crisis perhaps could have been prevented is there this trend of corporate and government interest sort of stepping in line to get there while it's hard to see this could have been prevented because of the disaster is such a bad one i m