April 1, 1979 – News – Bulletins – Carter Press Conference – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
April 1, 1979 – the situation at the 3 Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant had already gone into the history books as the worst Nuclear Power Plant accident in U.S.history. On this day, the situation was reported as “no change”, despite speculation and rumors that a partial meltdown had occurred. Fear, panic and a sense of helplessness gripped the residents around the 3 Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant – most had evacuated, but many also stayed. And since this April 1st in 1979 was a Sunday, residents were crammed into the local church, looking for answers the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Metropolitan Edison seemed unable to give.
President Carter flew to the scene of the accident, and toured the site; making a personal inspection of the damage and getting first-hand reports on the situation. He emerged later to give an impromptu Press Conference and tried his best to allay fears. not only to the people living within a five-mile radius of the damaged plant, but also to the American people, who were nervously eyeing similar Nuclear Power plants in their own cities and towns.
So on this day the world waited and held its collective breath. There was other news, but it seemed to take a distant backseat, at least in the U.S., as engineers worked frantically to stop a serious disaster from getting worse. Here are bulletins, news reports and President Carter’s Press Conference outside the 3-Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant on April 1, 1979.
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