Three Mile Island 30 Years Later - Nuclear Safety Problems Still Unresolved Union of Concerned Scientists, March 27, 2009 http://www.ucsusa.org/news/press_release/three-mile-island-30-years-lat-0213.html The partial meltdown at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant began on March 28, 1979. Since the accident, not a single new nuclear power plant has been ordered in the United States. Indeed, 74 plants under construction at the time of the accident were cancelled. But in just the past year, the nuclear industry has stepped up its efforts to secure government funding for a new fleet of nuclear power plants. Unfortunately, over the last three decades, neither plant owners nor the Nuclear Regulatory Commission have adequately addressed the basic flaws in U.S. nuclear safety that led to the Three Mile Island accident. Since then, the NRC and plant owners have focused more on keeping nuclear plants running over the short-term than ensuring their safety, Lyman said. That strategy has allowed a number of safety problems at plants to build up over time. When the accumulated problems cause enough interruptions to harm a plant's profitability, owners shut them down for extensive safety overhauls. Since Three Mile Island, utilities have had to shut down 41 plants for a year or more, a total of 51 times.