Pieces of Three Mile Island to be preserved for history
The plant’s control panel and a model of the reactor core will be preserved, as well as signs, maps, and photos from the time of TMI-2’s partial meltdown in 1979.
This story originally appeared on StateImpact Pennsylvania.
Update: Constellation said Friday morning that it plans to re-start Three Mile Island’s Unit 1 reactor by 2028.
The familiar towers at the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor will come down in the next several years as the plant is decommissioned.
But pieces of the site will be preserved for history.
TMI Unit 2 is the site of the worst commercial nuclear accident in the country.
That history adds a complication for TMI-2 Solutions’ clean up process. The company needs to demolish the site and remove any radioactive material. It also needs to protect the site under the National Historic Preservation Act.
Joe Lynch, director of regulatory affairs and licensing for TMI-2, said they’ve reached an agreement to donate some items to museums.
“We certainly understand the importance of preserving as much as we can while we’re trying to also decommission the plant,” Lynch said at a meeting of the plant’s Community Advisory Panel.
Lynch said they will donate the plant’s control panel and a model of the reactor core as well as signs, maps, and photos from the time of TMI-2’s partial meltdown in 1979. They also plan to donate a model of the plant used for training and will document the decommissioning process.
The company is working with the state and various museums to determine where the artifacts will be displayed.
Lynch said there are some things that can’t be saved.
“The Smithsonian has asked for a number of things and they wanted the valve that was essentially the trigger for the event,” he said. “But it’s a very contaminated piece of equipment, not something that we would readily donate to anybody.”
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission in August approved a change to the company’s ownership license acknowledging the preservation plans.
That will allow clean up crews to move forward with demolition.
TMI Unit 1 shut down in 2019. Its owner, Constellation, is exploring the possibility of restarting the reactor.
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