ABSTRACT
The amount of stress experienced by people living near Three Mile Island (TMI) was a function of the perceived amount of threat to physical safety and the reliability of the information being used to ascertain the degree of danger. Respondents to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) study found media such as local television and radio most useful, national-network television less useful, and ranked the print media behind all radio and television. The NRC study also included questions about the various sources of official information. Most of the conspicuous signs of the emergency disappeared as suddenly as the emergency appeared. Attitudes toward TMI are another indicator of continuing psychological effects of the accident. Both survey data and interviews with people living near Three Mile Island indicated a substantial variation in the response of individuals to the accident. Given the economic and psychological costs associated with a sudden move, this action would certainly be an indication of extreme distress.
