Science: Now for Operation Teakettle

A long, arduous cooldown at Three Mile Island

At 9:34 one evening last week, technicians at the big nuclear plant in Wiscasset, Me., felt the floor vibrate under their feet. A minor earthquake had struck. It measured only 4.0 on the Richter scale and did no damage to the plant or much of anything else in New England. But the temblor must have caused shudders of delight in Washington. For once the Nuclear Regulatory Commission had guessed right. Maine Yankee was one of five power plants on the East...

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