Senator John McCain Proposes The Creation Of 45 Nuclear Reactors Over The Next Few Decades -- Has He Forgotten About Three Mile Island?

Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant

Have Americans Forgotten About Three Mile Island? Written by James F. Marino

While it may sound cliché, the fact is that the more things change, the more they stay the same. And history is doomed to repeat itself, because we rarely learn from our mistakes.

Given Senator John McCain's suggestion, that as many as 45 nuclear power plants be constructed over the next few decades, one must also inquire as to whether or not Americans have forgotten about Three Mile Island and Chernobyl?

In the case of Chernobyl, the Soviet Union was vilified globally for attempting to keep the meltdown of one of its nuclear reactors from other nations.

Once must also wonder if the "Chernobyl accident" was actually the result of a directed energy weapon's attack by the Pentagon against the Russians, which would ultimately result in Russia's use of same type of technology, in order to retaliate for Chernobyl, by destroying the Challenger space shuttle a few months later.

However, in the case of Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, located on the Susquehanna River, the U.S. federal government's media propaganda machine immediately went into action after an accident took place there in 1979, while the American people have since been told that no deaths had ever occurred as the result of nuclear meltdown at the Three Mile Island facility.

Once again, the controlled media in the United States was used to lie, in order to cover up a much more serious situation at Three Mile Island.

The fact is that many residents of the underlying area have since died from cancers and other chronic illnesses which were the direct result of this nuclear accident, while the U.S. media has continued to deliberately ignore these deaths, because they could be directly attributed to a nuclear accident.

Moreover, this media cover up was the direct result of the complete desperation experienced by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the industry itself, as they attempted to fend off further criticisms which were already being directed at this industry, by those who created the 1979 movie blockbuster, The China Syndrome -- the fictional account of a nuclear power plant disaster which takes place at a California nuclear reactor, which in this case also functioned as a case of art imitating life, which resulted in the type of public outcry that no politician, CEO, or public relation's firm would ever want to have to deal with.

And in what must be regarded as one of the most poetic of ironies, the movie debuted on March 16Th, 1979, little more than a week before Three Mile Island occurred.

See the following article on the aftermath of the 1979 nuclear meltdown at Three Mile Island:

Aftermath Of Three Mile Island Accident

A 1979 New York Times article on the Three Mile Island nuclear disaster:

Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant Shut Down After Mishap


NRC Investigation Report On Three Mile Island:

NRC Investigation Of Three Mile Island Nuclear Accident

The Nukes Are At It Again

In light of the significant increases in both oil and fuel prices over the past few years, and statements like those made by John McCain in regard to the need for more of these cancer causing utility companies, there must be a rekindling of the "no nuke" sentiments which we as a nation shared after Three Mile Island.

As a native Long Islander who witnessed the Shoreham nuclear power plant debacle in the 1980s - which in my opinion is decades' later, still responsible for both the higher rates of certain types of cancers on Long Island, as well as the ridiculously high property taxes that Long Islanders pay - I say that nuclear power plants are the last thing that we need more of.

* One must also wonder if the ground water around Shoreham has been contaminated over the years, and even if the plant has been operating in secrecy all these years. Who's to know for certain, since it has become impossible to get a straight answer from a politician in this country in regard to any important issues.

The fact is that there are many different energy alternatives which homeowners can avail themselves of in the present day regarding ways in which to power their own homes, rather than leaving it up to their own incompetent politicians to come up with less than adequate solutions to such problems (which like Shoreham will eventually come back to haunt them).

In regard to Long Island alone, we simply can't financially afford to allow these politicians to handle anything else.

Since as it stands now, they've done such a bang up job of things, that many Long Islanders have been forced to move away from Long Island (as beautiful as it is) because these remarkably high (and artificially inflated) property taxes are no longer manageable for them.

Moreover, because of the Shoreham debacle, Long Island has become a textbook example of state and local government mismanagement at its worst, resulting in the need for the citizens of a U.S. state to make up for the financial shortfalls caused by such incompetent leadership, by being forced to pay much higher property taxes than they should be paying.

The Property Taxes On LI Are Ridiculous!
In far too many instances over the past decade, many Long Islanders have experienced a doubling in what they are charged for their property taxes. And it's not uncommon to hear of people in some of the more affluent areas of Long Island discussing their concerns over annual property taxes which range from over $20,000 a year to more than $100,000.

In this author's opinion, the direct result of the NY State government's total mismanagement of the Shoreham power plant scandal back in the mid 1980s.

A situation in which the owner of the plant, Long Island Lighting Company (LILCO), was allowed to free itself from the enormous debt which it had incurred when building the plant, by selling it to New York State for one dollar and consideration.

Consequently, LILCO's financial problem would ultimately become Long Island's problem, when the residents of NY State were forced to assume the billions of dollars in debt which were incurred in the construction of the power plant.

And Long Islanders have been paying the exorbitant price for this ever since, in the way of property taxes which are amongst the highest in the nation.

The bottom line is that nuclear power remains an extremely dangerous way of producing energy. Especially when a nuclear power plant is constructed on an Island whose infrastructure would make a timely evacuation of the Island impossible.

As such, the billions which John McCain claims should be allocated for the construction of 45 new nuclear power facilities over the next few decades, would be much better invested in more ecologically friendly and safer energy alternatives.

-- James F. Marino