In fact, no nuclear power plants were commissioned from 1979-2012. Public support for nuclear energy emerged in the 1970s, especially with gasoline shortages and the 1973 oil crisis, but the Three Mile Island accident and the 1986 Chernobyl plant explosion in the former Soviet Union stoked an anti-nuclear movement. "The Institute of Nuclear Power Operations was formed to audit power plants and promote the highest levels of training and consistency across the industry by providing accreditation to a facility." "For the nuclear energy industry, this brought about sweeping changes and new comprehensive compliance models," Culligan said. However, public concern deeply impacted the growth of the nuclear energy industry in the years that followed.
Government agencies and independent groups conducted studies but there were no adverse health effects attributed to the exposure. Eventually, the hydrogen was bled from the system as the reactor cooled. Trace amounts of radioactive gasses escaped from the reactor and a highly flammable hydrogen bubble formed inside the unit that could have resulted in an explosion that would have released larger amounts of radioactive material. "It turned the surrounding area into a ghost town and became worldwide news." "The Three Mile Island accident was a significant event even though there were no injuries or illnesses associated with it," said Culligan, noting that people in a five-mile radius were advised to stay indoors and children ages 5 and younger and pregnant women were evacuated. Although Jim Culligan, instructor of safety management at Slippery Rock University, was only an adolescent in 1979, potential accidents and disasters like the one that occurred at Three Mile Island would inform his 27-year career as a safety management professional, some of which included time spent working for a firm that conducted environmental site assessments of power plants.
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