Three mile island case study

Causes

The nuclear reactor at the 3 mile island is a pressurized water reactor. This means that the water
(called primary water) is pressurized to keep the water from boiling as it flows through the core of
the nuclear reactor. When water accidentally entered the instrument air lines, the turbine tripped and
there was no removal of heat from the core of the reactor which caused the primary water to boil.
This opened up the relief values in the cooling circuit to replace the water which was evaporated.

It was this relief valve that got stuck in the open position due to a mechanical defect. However the
indicator light indicated the valve was closed when it was actually open. The operators relied solely
on the indicator light and believed that the value was closed.

With the value open, the primary circuit was being flooded with water. The operators were trained
to follow procedure if the primary circuit got too full of water which was to shut down the water
pumps. When they shut down the pumps, they shut down the flow of make up water. This action
caused the water to evaporate in the core of the reactor which exposed the top of the radioactive
core. The steam then reacted with the zirconium alloy cans and hydrogen was produced. The steam
being produced also then condensed into a drain tank which overflowed into the containment
building sump and was automatically pumped outside which resulted in the escape of radioactive
material.

Prevention:

a. One of the causes was the indicator light which falsely indicated the position of the value. When
a direct measurement is not possible, the label on the panel the instrument is measuring should be
an indication of what is being measured and not the property which can be inferred. In this case the
indicator light should have read as “signal to relief value” and not as”position of relief valve”

b. proper training and understanding of the operation:

The operators of the plant relied solely on the indicator light for their diagnosis. However there
were other signs that the valve was open. Some of these were that

I. The relief valve exit was hotter than usual (140C instead of 90 C)
ii. the pressure and temperature of the primary water was lower than usual operating conditions
iii. The primary water circulation pumps were vibrating
iv. high level in containment building sump.

The operators neglected all the above signs which indicates that the operators had a poor
understanding of the way the nuclear reactor functioned.

c. Therefore the operators must have a good understanding of the functioning of the plant. They
must also be trained to diagnose certain problems that might arise.