ABSTRACT
The President's Commission on the Accident at Three Mile Island concluded that human inadequacies contributed substantially to the events that began at Unit 2 of the Metropolitan Edison power station on 28 March 1979. There were people problems mandated to the commission in the charter, but the problems noted were those that people confronted only because the accident occurred. A commissioner argued compellingly that the inquiry had to be people oriented, for the various investigations were prompted by anxiety about the possible effects on health and safety. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission was again represented before the commission on 22-23 August, the final set of public hearings. The accounts that followed the publication of the commission report generally pointed to the emphasis in the report on people problems. The report of the president's commission appeared in an environment in which interpretations of the significance of the Three Mile Island accident and of nuclear energy in a broader sense already existed.
