About 1.5 weeks ago I saw the documentary, "Containment", about the Three Mile Island accident and aftermath (esp. on the lives of folks in Middletown, Pa.). I saw it at MICA's Brown Center (My first time in the new building). The screening was part of the Maryland Film Festival.
Three Mile Island (TMI) happened in March of '79. I was in SF at the time. I remember how horrified folks were in the Bay area (It being a haven for leftist thought and alternative lifestyles, there was already a strong anti-nuke sentiment.).
The public, there, had already been shocked in November of '78, by the news of the Jonestown Massacre in Guyana (and the murder of Congressman Leo Ryan and his party). Jim Jones had moved his People's Temple flock from SF to Guyana, so most of the 913 dead at Jonestown (most from cyanide-laced Kool Aid and some shot by guards) were from the Bay area. The Congressman (from San Mateo?) had flown down with some aides and reporters to investigate complaints about Jim Jones' organization and its coercive culture.
And a week after that tragedy, former SF Supervisor Dan White, shot and killed SF Mayor Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk at City Hall.
So when TMI happened, it was easy for folks to get pretty upset. It felt like the sky was falling.
(Of course, 7 years later, the Chernobyl accident would make TMI look like diddly squat.)
Posted by raacluse at May 18, 2004 11:19 PM