![](/assets/images/picto-drapeau-france-3a76576a5d60a512053b4612ab58dae5.png)
4. Three Mile Island
4.1 Context
At 4 a.m. on March 28, 1979, an accident sequence began at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant that would lead to a partial meltdown of the fuel in the reactor core within ten hours.
This reactor is of the PWR (Pressurized Water Reactor) type. It comprises a primary circuit in which the fuel is immersed, and a secondary circuit (figure 6 ). The primary circuit comprises the reactor, four primary pumps to circulate the water, two heat exchangers or steam generators and a pressurizer. The nuclear reaction produces heat. The pumps circulate the heat transfer fluid (pressurized water) between the reactor and the heat exchanger. Through the steam...
Exclusive to subscribers. 97% yet to be discovered!
You do not have access to this resource.
Click here to request your free trial access!
Already subscribed? Log in!
![](/assets/images/logo-eti-286623ed91fa802ce039246e516e5852.png)
The Ultimate Scientific and Technical Reference
This article is included in
Safety and risk management
This offer includes:
Knowledge Base
Updated and enriched with articles validated by our scientific committees
Services
A set of exclusive tools to complement the resources
Practical Path
Operational and didactic, to guarantee the acquisition of transversal skills
Doc & Quiz
Interactive articles with quizzes, for constructive reading
Three Mile Island
Bibliography
Exclusive to subscribers. 97% yet to be discovered!
You do not have access to this resource.
Click here to request your free trial access!
Already subscribed? Log in!
![](/assets/images/logo-eti-286623ed91fa802ce039246e516e5852.png)
The Ultimate Scientific and Technical Reference