User Reviews

I'm not sure why so many nuclear power fans are upset by this docuseries. It does lean on the dramatic, but the message of pro-nuclear power is repeated over and over by one of the main interviewees. The concern is not the technology, but the rich men we entrust to run nuclear plants safely. All this docuseries want is responsibility in the operation of public utilities, and I can't see why anyone would find that bad. It's a compelling view into the, pardon the pun, fallout of the accident, and worth the time for people interested.

The main individual that this documentary centers around is Richard ("Rick") Parks. He was a nuclear engineer hired as part of the clean-up operation at Three Mile Island. As he unequivocally says at the beginning and end of the series, he's a believer in nuclear energy. He is a proponent.

What he's not a believer in, after his experience, is putting nuclear safety in the hands of private enterprise. The pressures to be profitable (or avoid losses) can force lapses in safety ... and that should never be on the table.

As far as a documentary is concerned, it's "ok". It lags a lot in the middle and didn't have much in the way of counterpoint experts. However, because it compiled and presented a lot of interesting information about the incident that I knew little about ... I have to give it credit. The idea that there was a second potential disaster involved (the polar crane operation) - was truly eye-opening.

As far as the downsides - there wasn't a lot of counterpoint from nuclear experts. This is understandable. From friends I have in the industry, they tell me the nuclear industry is a small community. If your name gets associated with anything anti-industry, the professional hit could be a career ender. Still, it would have been nice to see more scientific experts presented ... esp. If they had counterpoint ideas.

A fun fact they showed was that Pres. Jimmy Carter was a nuclear engineer and was once involved in repairing a damaged reactor himself. He showed up at Three Mile Island to calm tensions and support the industry.

Near the beginning I wondered if this would have been more interesting as a dramatization, like the Chernobyl mini-series. However, after a while, I understood why this may have been better as a documentary. The story they tell is more of disasters being averted ... which is great, but different than the stories of Chernobyl, Titanic, etc.

All in all - it's an interesting watch. The world is a bit different today than in 1979; there's a focus on solar, wind and even the sea for new sources of power. If they don't pan out soon, interest may eventually refocus on nuclear energy.

If you want nuclear accident suspense, watch "The China syndrome" and "Chernobyl". If you want whistleblower drama, watch "Silkwood" ... and (though it's a documentary) this series.

The story of corruption and mismanagement is not that surprising. Still kinda interesting. But in typical Netflix fashion, long winded and repetitive.

But the real lesson of this documentary is how far we've come in nuclear tech.

We see the complete lack of computer technology in the 1970's. This makes it clear that the US should continue leading the way and sell Gen IV tech to the rest of the world -where the other 95% of humans live, and where carbon emissions are growing at an extraordinary rate. My beloved France and Germany are already returning to nuclear. But the rest of the world is polluting like crazy. Enough is enough.

I'm sure they were all virologists this morning and climate scientists in the afternoon.

I was eight years old when TMI happened. We lived in Mechanicsburg, PA, 18 miles away - - can remember getting picked up from school out of the blue by my parents and riding to my aunt and uncle's in Allentown. Part of the documentary is about that unknown and just how worrisome it was for those who lived in South Central PA.

For those who say there weren't any "experts" heard from in the documentary, I'm not sure what they were watching. It's pot calling kettle black for everyone who is claiming bias with the film - - multiple experts are interviewed, but obviously not ones such reviewers want to hear from. It does spend most of the time in the later episodes with the whistleblower. It has a point of view. Other than that, the complaints are what is overblown, not the story of TMI as rendered here.

There is a saying in Germany that goes a bit like: blessed are the ones without knowledge. Not sure if there is a similar saying in English or if it is exactly like I wrote it or has some tweak(s) to it.

But I think the point it makes, is clear. Because there are so many things that happen out there, that sometimes you may feel like it would be better not to even know about them. Worry about them - having it hang over your head .. clouding your day/life.

On the other hand, isn't it good to know what has happened, so we can hold the powers to be to account? Not sure it always works like that - but I do hope that enough people are out there trying to uncover the truth. And I am not talking Q or other conspiracy stuff. I am talking about things that happen, things that can be scientifically proven and hopefully averted. Things like what happened so many decades ago and is subject in this docu-series.

Netflix knows how to produce these shows one can easily say. Still not everyones cup of tea I reckon. So much to watch - you have to know if it is worth your time - and your own mood of course.

A lot of the low scoring reviews made by many, about this documentary, have clearly come from people who failed to understand just exactly what was to be shown and told.

The reviewer, chrisxhood14 states that it is "Heavily biased and over-dramatized (he/she spelt it it as over-dramatised so I corrected it for the readers) with a clear agenda". They obviously did not check to see what it is they would be hearing about.

This had but one agenda and that was to inform the watching world of the lies and corruption from the Power Plants owners/management. It was the most dangerous time in American history and the powers that be tried to cover it up by not telling the truth about exactly what happened in the 1979 Nuclear Meltdown. It was not meant to be about Nuclear Power plant improvements in later years etc. It was not about anyone being biased or against Nuclear power stations; it was about the sheer neglect for human health, life and safety. It was not meant to be a technical in depth explanation but rather an exact explanation of a huge cover up. Lying to the state Governor and to the US President. Its about money cover ups, cutting costs and the non stop flagrant disregard for the lives of the ordinary, everyday non wealthy people of America by those in power!

The thing that stands out from everything spoken about is that we, the viewers, learn from the very beginning that the plant was being run by people who were completely clueless about Atomic energy. Seven years later the American government cried blue murder about the April 1986 Chernobyl meltdown, because the Russians told the exact same lies. But at least the Russians gave thought to their citizens and evacuated all of them; American blatantly lied about the danger to their Pennsylvania citizens and, tried to get them to stay!

Its not the best documentary to watch (I'm sure they could have made and edited this far better) but, you finally get the truth from the mouths of the 3 Mile Island citizens; both the parents and the children of the time.

I didn't feel like this was about fear in nuclear energy. This event set it back, but it's still viable and prevalent. This is about human error, regulation failure, and high level corporate and government corruption.

This is an amazingly well produced docu-series from Netflix once again. It's the gold standard in documentaries these days so you get what you expect. It seems to have been produced during covid lockdowns so even the main speaker is just alone in a room/studio talking to a camera with no one else there except on a speaker. Makes it very one on one with the audience whenever he's talking. He is very good. The story is great! Tragic and should be extremely highlighting in today's culture. JUST because someone in authority tells you something is safe, think beyond that and ask about monetary benefits or costs savings because deep down, all the government or beneficiaries care about is profit and economic progress on the literal backs of its citizens. My only issue is nearing the end it does trend on the anti nuclear power side of speech which is clearly biased as nuclear energy is produced in a lot of countries safely and is extremely efficient. I do think nuclear energy tech needs more funding and not less. If it can replace coal and or fuel power plants I think the green energy people should love it. BUT it HAS to be SAFE and strictly adhered to. No. Shortcuts.

The many 1-star reviews alleging that this series is inaccurate are notably lacking in specific examples. What's more, they all take as a given (perhaps because they're *programmed" to do so?) that the documentary is "anti-nuclear" - which is not correct.

Amidst both pro- and anti-nuclear spin, we should remember that there are actually three separate aspects to the nuclear question:

1. The scientific concept. Can we safely derive energy from the fission breakdown of radioactive materials?

2. The technology. Do we have the engineering know-how to use fission safely, and to make nuclear energy competitive with other sources?

3. The management infrastructure. Can for-profit corporate entities be entrusted with a technology as potentially destructive as nuclear energy?

The answer to 1 is clearly yes. We know more than enough about the atom to release it's energy, and to control that release.

The jury is still out on 2. Nuclear power is insanely expensive, with plants costing billions and often taking decades to bring online. The economics look still worse if you factor in the environmental cost of mining the 'fuel', the cost of disposal of wastes (still nowhere close to being a solved problem), and the cost of ultimately decommissioning the plant itself, when it passes its best-by date. All these 'external' costs are currently left to taxpayers, and are generally not included when calculating the cost of electricity.

HOWEVER: aspect 3 is the *only* one addressed by the mini-series Meltdown: Three Mile Island.

Not once does the series claim that the design of the Three Mile Island plant was seriously faulty. Or that the underlying science was inadequate. What the series focuses on is the inability of for-profit enterprises to safely build, operate and maintain something as potentially dangerous as a nuclear power plant. Or to respond swiftly and appropriately when something goes wrong.

As an engineer myself, I absolutely believe that is is *possible* to build safe and economically-viable nuclear power generating facilities. But given everything we know with absolute certainty about how corporations put return on investment above all other priorities, it is clearly impossible that they could be dependable stewards of nuclear technology. Corners will *always* be cut, and executive butts will always be covered when something goes wrong.

Anyone who watched the series to the end (rather than quitting after fifteen minutes to write a negative review) would have heard this message explicitly stated: not that nuclear power is evil, just that it has been entrusted to organizations that are singularly ill-suited to its management.

The series is also a rather touching portrayal of people who (even if you disagree with them) have chosen to fight and sacrifice for their homes, their beliefs and their professional integrity. Definitely worth watching - all the way through.

A few years after the meltdown, I was working for Air Products and Chemicals, an industrial gas company as a sales rep out of York, PA. TMI was my account and I went up there to do a cylinder count as they were paying thousands a month in rental charges for 5000 cylinders that had been on the island for 10 or more years. After my walk through I found only 200 cylinders. Big mystery until I talked to an old timer at the plant. Seems at the time of the meltdown and thereafter, employees would take full cylinders with 3000 psi, over to an embankment overlooking the Susquehanna River, lay them across two railroad ties and then knock the heads off the cylinders with a sledgehammer shooting them out over the the river a few hundred feet. These were the people running the plant.

A well made documentary that presented both fact and opinions on the meltdown at TMI in the late 70s. The interviews were relevant and good use of archival footage. Series flowed easily. Almost unbelievable events.

I was a 6-year old kid living with my paternal grandmother (after the passing of my mother to allow my father to sort himself after her death) in Michigan when this accident occurred. I have no memory of the accident nor do I recall any in-depth learning about it at any point during my primary, secondary, post-secondary educational processes. This docu-series was nothing short of just simply WELL DONE. It was a great learning opportunity for me. Bravo to all involved for "venting" the truth and the facts about the Three Mile Island Nuclear Reactor Incident.

It's funny to read the negative reviews on here, from wannabe nuclear specialists. I guess all those reviewers became specialists overnight. That said you have to be a complete idiot if you can not understand nuclear power is a very dangerous field, something that should be checked, rechecked and rechecked, not monthly but daily. Accidents, that should never happen by the way but that happen more than often, could have catastrophical consequences, so making or losing money should never be the first thing they should think of when there is an issue, and that's exactly what they did. The documentary is informative, sometimes a bit too emotional for some but then again I think you had to live it to understand it. When you see a guy like Lake Barrett speaking, it's obvious he should be in jail for putting an entire country in danger, even if it didn't happen as that is not the point. It's so obvious that guy is lying through his teeth, don't need to be a detective to see that. Nuclear power should be abandoned completely, it's just much too dangerous. There are enough alternatives to have clean power, where there are almost no risks at all. I thought this documentary was well made. It showed not only what catastrophe we escaped, it also shows how corrupt the whole system is, but that's not really news.

I watched this because one of my favorite recent shows was HBOs Chernobyl which tells the tale of the worst nuclear disaster in the history of the world. That show was compelling and although some things were exaggerated, it was for a purpose and hit the mark for viewers to get a real take on what happened who may have not been familiar. Some background on me, I am a nuclear shift supervisor at an operating plant similar to actual 3 mile island plant. (Pressurized water reactor). You can take my opinion as one of defending the industry I work in or as one of actually understanding the reasons this accident happened. If you are watching this "documentary" for actual information on what happened I would say do some actual research first. It seems to glaze over most of the physical and personal reasons the operators in the plant did what they did and caused the accident. My take on it, is it really seemed the makers of the show did not have full information or understanding of the accident so they hired tv actor nuclear scientists to try to fill in dramatic "facts". This was possibly done do capitalize on the success of the show Chernobyl as I previously mentioned. My favorite quote was when the one "scientist" said the hydrogen explosion that almost happened at TMI was the exact thing that had caused the explosion at Chernobyl. This couldn't be further from the facts. Simply watching Chernobyl on HBO will show you that. Watching the re-enacted scenes was painful as workers go around the plant in the dark with flashlights? Did they lose power at the plant? Why were the lights all out? The answer is no, it was all for drama. The re-enacted scenes In the control room were also very inaccurate and over dramatized. I'm sure the control room at TMI was a tense place but the lights were on and the operators sure as hell know how to acknowledge their alarms and turn off their horns. Securing the reactor coolant pumps was focused on as the cause of the melt of fuel however, It was the securing of their safety injection system, which are separate pumps that inject borated water to cool the core during a loss of coolant accident that created the problem. This occurred due to to a lack of fundamental knowledge of their indications. With their pressure relief valve stuck open(as glossed over in this show) indications in their pressurizer level( which gives the operators some indication of the amount of water in their reactor) would go up in level. This is called a pressurizer vapor space leak which is classified as a loss of coolant accident. Very easily remedied by closing the isolation valve which is in series with these PORVs. However the operators were confused by rising level vs lowering level in the system which would occur in most Loss of coolant accidents. This led the crew to take action opposite of what they should have done for several hours. The plant was bleeding out their cooling water via this valve through a tank that relieved into their containment building. Although level looked high by their false indications, actual level dropped in their reactor uncovering the top of the fuel. This continued for several hours until the morning crew came in and understood what was occurring and closed the isolation valve i mentioned above. However by that time the damage was done. No water equals high temps and somewhere over 2000 degrees f the fuel will melt. Which occurred at three mile island. My fear of this show is that it makes the public continue to fear something it doesn't understand out of emotion rather than facts. I look at the accident as a very good indication of just how safe our US designed plants are. Despite the operators at TMIs best efforts to cause a terrible accident, the plant functioned as it should and prevented a major catastrophe. It led to a revolution in the industry in the 80s for safe operations and better training of the operators that run the plants. The only reason I wrote this review is because of some of other reviews I read on here from readers that are learning all the info based on this poorly created "documentary". If it interested you, continue to educate yourself of the nuclear industry in our country and take this show for what it's worth which doesn't seem like much. Go watch Chernobyl on HBO for real drama with the understanding that those reactors are far different from our own and in no way was that accident similar to what occurred in Pennsylvania.

I was 13 and lived in York PA very close to TMI. It was really scary. This series does a great job capturing the fear and confusion everyone felt. The adults around us had no idea what the right thing to do was, whether to stay or go. The day of the hydrogen bubble was terrifying. Finding out as an adult how much disinformation the NRC, GPU and Bechtel we're propagating brings it all back and makes me angry. I've been anti-nuclear my whole life because of TMI.

The documentary is a 4 part episodic variant with some reenactments, and witness descriptions of the Three Mile Incident. The creators have interviews with former workers and your regular citizen of the towns surrounding the area, and it depicts the incident well, as well as including a lot of good information.

However, the creators bias quickly emerges in the last episode, and quickly devolves into a "nuclear bad" retoric. Now, I am biased as well, as I am a staunch supporter of nuclear energy, but the bias showed itself too well, and thus the series only gets a 6/10 from me.

This is often criticized as biased and to dramatized. I would not say that. Nuclear energy is a very emotional topic with many different opinions. In my opinion, the series shows both sides pretty well. This is difficult because there are so many things unknown about this event, for example how much radiation was emitted. This makes it difficult to follow facts everybody can agree on.

As I see it, this show is a good explanation what happend at Three Miles Island for people which are totally unaware and what followed the years after. The theird episode has it's lows where it nearly lost me, but what follows is interesting again and I personally didn't know anything about the things after the acciddent. All in all, it maybe is a bit too long.

So, If you watch this with an open mind and a critical view, questioning and open for facts - as you should watch every documentary - Meltdown! Is an interesting show.

Three Mile Island. If you remember it you may also remember that triple record album record entitled No Nukes. Basically the "establishment" that brought us The Vietnam War was pushing nuclear power plants as the future while the American youth along with the counter-culture were saying "hold on, not so fast".

It gets even a bit surreal too. The safe track record of America's fission derived nuclear power plants was about to be shattered. Not before, however, art imitated life when the movie entitled "The China Syndrome" depicted the very event in a few months would be reality. While this much is true there is more unknowns and outright lies that persist to this day.

Almost half a century on Netflix presents a review of what actually happened at Three Mile Island with hopes of shedding light on more fact than fiction. I think Michio Kaku sums up what may be the only true bottom line is by his quote "if anyone is claiming exactly how much radiation leaked into the atmosphere during the Three Mile Island incident they are either liars or fools".

But the point of this film is to try to uncover what was known and not necessarily shared widely. This is where things get to the real point of this documentary. After the initial meltdown was narrowly averted the long clean up re-opened the door to it all happening again, and in a worst case scenario. One man's whistleblowing stopped it from possibly happening. It also triggered a congressional legal proceeding in which criminal malfeasance was revealed. People can say the film over-dramatizes the fears but, really, criminal deeds in the operation of a nuclear plant resulting in a partial meltdown. That seems as real as it gets. We, the public, barely knew these things. In this guise I give the film high marks Nuclear power is amazing-and deadly. Because of the deadly aspect profit over safety becomes a central issue to be concerned with. Watching this makes it clear that a deadly intersection of the two must not be allowed to happen. The NRC comes off, at this time, much like the recent findings regarding the FAA. You can't serve two masters in these instances. Watch this and decide for yourself.

As Episode 1 of "Meltdown: Three Mile Island" (2022 release; 4 episodes of about 45 min each) opens, we are in "Middletown, PA", where the residents speak with pride about Three Mile Island: "it was part of the community and a sign of progress". We then go to "March 28, 1979, 4 AM", as alarms go off in the second rector's control room. In no time, things go from bad to worse, although Metropolitan Edison, the plant's operator, claims that all is under control. At this point we are 10 min into Episode 1.

Couple of comments: this is the latest documentary from veteran director Kief Davidson ("A Lego Brickumentary"). Here he reassess what went down at the Three Mile Island nuclear accident. The first two episodes provide a minute-by-minute and hour-by-hour overview of it all. Of course there are plenty of TV archive clips, but beware, Davidson also uses plenty of re-enactments. I'm not a fan of re-enactments, and I feel they hold back, rather than enhance or advance, the documentary. Of course also plenty of talking heads, from government officials to local residents. I had forgotten that "The China Syndrome" had been released a mere 2 weeks before the TMI accident. Talk about perfect timing! The movie was derided by the nuclear industry, and instead became seen as an eerily prophetic movie which promptly became a box office success (over $200 million, adjusted for inflation). Episode 3 deals primarily with the cleanup of the accident, and Episode 4 looks at the long-term aftermath. In all, while this clipped by quickly, I can't say that I was overwhelmed by it. Good, but not great.

"Meltdown: Thee Mile Island" premiered on Netflix a few weeks ago, and I binge-watched all 4 episodes in a single setting just the other day. If you have any interest in the nuclear industry and how this incident impacted on the nuclear industry, I'd readily suggest you check this out and draw your own conclusion.

Previous reviewers have complained how inaccurate the technical details in this documentary were, but even if true that's a minor part of the whole story for me. The core of this story is how PHONY the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) was in its role to protect the Public. The NRC is just another Sweetheart Federal Regulator who was and still is "in bed" with the very Industry that they are presumably tasked with regulating. They were much more concerned with the sustained reputation and profitability of the Nuclear Industry than with Public Safety. Consider the FAA. It is the Federal Regulator for the Airline Industry, yet its charter tasks it not only with regulating Airline Companies but to promote Air Travel as well. Anyone can see that a Conflict of Interest is thusly incorporated into the fabric of the FAA itself. Ditto for all other Fed Government Regulators over Big Business. TRUTH is that Wall Street, NYC is the real Capital of America, while Washington DC is just a Puppet Show with Wall Street pulling ALL The Strings. To witness just one scenario from this Puppet Show, watch this very bold and very brave revelation of what happened at Three Mile Island and its aftermath.

As usual with Netflix, sensationalism wins over facts. Why? Because otherwise this relatively boring story about the nuclear accident that never was wouldn't be able to be used to justify a 4 hour series.

As a lifelong resident of PA, everyone knows about TMI, and not to discount the experiences of those who lived nearby, it WAS scary. Lake Barrett is actually the most reputable out of all of the interviewees who primarily consisted of two housewives who took up the anti-nuclear cause, a woman who was a child at the time, and a man who's reputation is highly suspect and this is even according to his own son who went on social media to dispel the story he told.

Rick Parks was NOT on-site at the time of the incident and only showed up years later. The first two episodes focus on the immediate incident and the response. The media played on people's fears back then just as they do now. No surprise. There was a lack of clear communication between MetEd, the NRC and the PA government. There was NEVER any deaths attributable to the small amount of radiation released. The dead fish were more likely caused by a temperature difference in circulated wate, which was pumped directly from the Susquehanna River the plant was located on. The type of burns shown on the "bike riding victim" were not the type you'd observe with radiation.

The last two episodes focus on Rick Parks and his fight to keep them from using a polar crane located within the reactor building to remove the fuel. The debate was never about the actual safety of the crane, it was about the procedures used. His affidavit even confirms this. The super-criticality theory he concocts has no basis in reality as the reactor had been shut down and cooled for YEARS before the cleanup began. Post-accident reports even confirm there was no possible way for the core to go critical in the state it was in after the shutdown. Where he really goes off the rails is when he insists they tried sabotaging him by planting pot in his toolbox.

One of their so-called experts is a well-known leader of anti-nuclear groups, Eric Epstein. That name alone should cause alarm among anyone actually looking for even an even-sided debate about nuclear.

The series also fails to address the fact that no incidents have taken place since, or any of the safety changes that were implemented industry-wide due to it.

What the director wanted was to make a series about an "American Chernobyl." In terms of nuclear accidents, this may have been the worst in U. S. history but that's simply due to the fact that not many have taken place, and most of the ones that did occur were during the Manhattan Project, during nuclear infancy.

It's well-shot, emotional, but leaves out a LOT of factual information and clearly serves as more of an anti-nuclear piece of propaganda than anything.

I've just finished watching the last episode of this limited series. I vividly remember this event that occurred during my sophomore year in college. What I did NOT realize, was how very close this "accident," came to being a full fledged disaster like the one in Chernobyl, Ukraine.

The central figure in this film, Rick Parks, is presented as a modern American Hero. And that is EXACTLY WHAT HE IS! Like Stanislov Petrov of the USSR, Rick Parks followed his moral compass, instead of his organization's rule book when face with a decision that could have ended the lives of many innocent people. When you listen to this man talk (and I am SO happy that it is him, and not an actor playing him) you just KNOW he is telling the truth. Like so many ordinary people who rise to meet extraordinary circumstances, the truth rings true. Conversely, Lake Barrette, on-site NRC "watchdog" comes across as a dispassionate, uncaring sociopath, who is utterly incapable of empathy. He says as much about himself when he is introduced during the series. His attitude exemplifies everything that is wrong with the authoritarian "leadership" behind most private companies, and many government agencies. Some will claim that Mr. Barrette is the victim of political character assassination, but if so, he hold the gun to his own head and pulls the trigger. Those who claim this series is "too political" probably operate in a similar fashion in their own lives.

Coming back to the series itself, I found it EXTREMELY well researched, with compelling testimony from some of the most central figures and events surrounding the Three Mile Island disaster. Strongly recommended!!!

This "documentary" was absolutely written by someone who was paid-off by the coal/oil industry. The entire series is meant to scare its viewers about nuclear industry. Comparing TMI to chernobyl is completely disingenuous. TMI released almost no radiation. You see how the people at TMI are here now to tell the story? It's because the containment facility did its job. It kept people safe. This series is the reason why there is so much misinformation surrounding the nuclear industry. The nuclear industry (even with chernobyl and TMI) is still infinitely safer than gas/coal plants. Nuclear doesn't release dangerous byproducts that causes millions of cases of cancer every year. Nuclear is the future. Series like this make the progress slow. I'm glad netflix is going broke. Gaslighting like this is absolutely garbage.