Three Mile Island - March 28：美国历史上的今天

内容导读：发生在三英里岛核电站的一次泄漏事故令美国人对核电的安全性产生了忧虑。

America's worst accident at a nuclear power plant happened on March 28,1979. The plant is on Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania 宾夕法尼亚州. The island lies in the middle of the Susquehanna River.

The plant’s job was to produce electricity for Pennsylvania. Turbines, or engines, that are driven by the pressure of steam, make the electricity. The steam comes from water that is superheated 使……过热 by nuclear cores inside the power plant. The nuclear cores are made of radioactive 放射性的 material. It is highly dangerous to humans, animals, and plants.

On the day of the accident, one of the pumps 泵 stopped working properly. This made heat and pressure build up in the plant. The valve 阀 that relieves the pressure opened but did not close. Workers at the plant did not know what to do. Their measuring instruments were giving them confusing readings. It was not until the end of the day that they got things working again.

Meanwhile, radioactive gases built up in the plant. The plant had to release some of it into the air. This made people worry. They were afraid of being poisoned by the gas. Thousands of studies were done on the air, water, plants, and soil around the plant. They showed that the amount of radiation leaked 泄露的 was not enough to hurt people.

After the accident, many people did not want to use nuclear power to make electricity. Since 2004, people have started to say that the U.S. should use it again. Steps are being taken to make sure that the plants are safe. Workers are being trained in how to act during nuclear power accidents. The accident at Three Mile Island was a good lesson for everybody.

本文内容选自上海外语教育出版社引进出版的《听读美国小故事》第3册（3月）。如需购买，可到当当、亚马逊、京东等网上书城去看看。