In March, 1979 a major motion picture starring Jack Lemmon, Jane Fonda, Michael Douglas, and Wilfred Brimley was released. It was called The China Syndrome. Fonda and Douglas portrayed an intrepid television news crew who witnessed an incident at a fictional nuclear power plant and encountered fierce resistance from the company that operated it as they tried to report the story to the world. The title of the film referred to a mythical accident scenario where the core of an operating nuclear reactor, deprived of its coolant, would melt through the bottom of its containment vessel and through the earth, all the way to China.
Upon its release, which generated considerable critical acclaim and strong box office receipts, the nuclear power industry protested. The New York Times ran an article on March 18, 1979, where “experts” in the field of nuclear power discussed the benefits derived from the industry and its history of safe operations of nuclear reactors. One such expert claimed The China Syndrome was “a character assassination of an entire industry”. General Electric announced it was withdrawing its sponsorship of a Barbara Walters television special because Jane Fonda was scheduled to appear and discuss the movie on the broadcast. Pro-nuclear groups and trade magazines roundly condemned the film and its depiction of a power industry driven by greed and unconcerned with the hazards presented to an unwary public.
Then, on March 28, 1979 a nuclear power plant outside of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania suffered a near-catastrophic accident which led to the release of radioactive gasses and other materials into the atmosphere. As of 2023, it remains the worst nuclear accident to occur on US soil in history. As in the fictional film then in theaters, the operating power company and government agencies were initially reticent to release information about the event to the public. Subsequent events revealed the accident had led to a partial meltdown, the feared event narrowly avoided in The China Syndrome.
The accident in Pennsylvania, which occurred at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant, operated by Metropolitan Edison Company, led to significant changes in the industry. New regulations and operating procedures were implemented in its aftermath. The most important change was the attitude of the public towards nuclear power and a steady decline in the construction of nuclear power plants across the United States. Dozens of existing plants were decommissioned, eventually including Three Mile Island itself. The impact of the accident on the environment is still debated, as it has been since the event over four decades ago.
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