Today in History：March 28
Radioactive gas escaped despite the automatic shut down of the reactor1979: Nuclear leak causes alarm in America
England have
Radioactive steam has leaked into the atmosphere in Pennsylvania, USA.
The accident happened when a water pump broke down at the Three Mile Island
nuclear plant, 10 miles (16km) south-east of the state capital Harrisburg.
There are fears some of the plant's 500 workers have been contaminated.
The authorities have declared a "general emergency" but did not inform the
public until five hours after the gas escaped at 0400 local time.
Director of the County Civil Defence Organisation (CCDO) Les Jackson said
they had drawn up an evacuation plan, but nearby residents have not been moved
yet.
He described the scene at the large power station in the Susquehanna River
as "a madhouse".
Spokesman for the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) Joe
Fouchard said: "There's a hell of a lot of radiation in the reactor
building."
A spokesman for Metropolitan Edison - one of the companies that runs Three
Mile Island - said the nuclear reactor automatically shut down after
themalfunction, but not before the leak.
According to a US Government report radiation has been detected a mile
away, but the calm weather has helped contain the spread of the noxious
fumes.
One of the nuclear engineer at the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
Protection, William Dornsife, said: "There was very little wind this morning, so
the radioactivity shouldn't have gone very far."
"What small release there was will be confined to the local vicinity," he
continued.
The emergency status will remain until there has been a thorough
investigation by teams in anti-radiation suits.
The nuclear industry has been under increasing scrutiny in the US
recently.
Five plants were closed down there just two weeks ago over fears of the
effects of earthquakes on cooling towers.
Dr King took a crowd of 25,000 to the steps of the state capital
1965: Thousands join Dr King in Alabama rally
Artificially 1969:
The Dr Martin Luther King has taken a crowd of nearly 25,000 people to the
steps of the state capital of Montgomery, Alabama to highlight black
grievances.
The procession marks the end of a five-day march which started in Selma
last week and it brings to a close a month of civil rights protests in
Alabama.
Troops policed the roads surrounding the capital and army helicopters
hovered overhead as the crowd swelled to nearly 25,000.
Dr King, who addressed the protesters from a podium in the square,
described the trek as "one of the greatest marches in the history of
America".
"Our aim is not to humiliate and defeat the white man, but to win his
friendship and understanding," he added.
Dr King tried to present a petition of black grievances to Governor George
Wallace but he refused to meet the delegation.
The civil rights leader said he would ask trade unions to refuse to
transport or use the state's products and he urged the Federal Government and
the Treasury to withdraw all assistance from the area.
Dr King also said that demonstrations would have to continue where
essential conditions remained unmet.
When the march began last week, large bombs were planted at a black church,
a funeral parlour and a leading black lawyer's home.
They were later discovered and detonated by experts from the army base at
Anniston, Alabama.
To prevent further attacks, US President Lyndon Johnson gave the marchers
the protection of nearly 3,000 troops, plus FBI and local police assistance.
But three days ago Viola Liuzzo, a white civil rights advocate who had been
ferrying demonstrators to their homes, was shot dead on a lonely stretch of road
near the route of the march.
Meanwhile, leaders of the Ku-Klux-Klan movement have reportedly tried to
contact President Johnson to dicuss his aversion to their organisation.
There was no immediate response from the US President, who recently
launched a scathing attack on the group, describing it as "a band of
hoodedbigots, whose loyalty was not with the United States".
页:
[1]