Three Mile Island nuclear plant “accident” – 3/28/1979

from Wikipedia:

On March 28, 1979, there was a cooling system malfunction that caused a partial melt-down of the reactor core. This loss-of-coolant accident resulted in the release of an amount of radioactivity, estimated at 43,000 curies (1.59 PBq) of radioactive krypton-85 gas (half life 10 yrs), but less than 20 curies (740 GBq) of the especially hazardous iodine-131 (half life 8 days), into the surrounding environment.[3]

Nearly 2 million people were exposed to a small amount of radiation from the accident.[24] A review by the World Nuclear Association concluded that no deaths, injuries or adverse health effects resulted from the accident,[25] and a report by Columbia University epidemiologist Maureen Hatch confirmed this finding.[4][26] Because of the health concerns, the Pennsylvania Department of Health kept a registry of more than 30,000 people that lived within 5 miles of TMI at the time of the accident. The registry was kept for nearly 20 years until 1997, when no evidence was found of unusual health effects.[27] Further epidemiology studies have not shown any increase in cancer as a result of the accident.[5][6][7] However, almost $25 million was paid in insurance settlements to people who then agreed not to discuss their injuries in ongoing litigation.[28]

Unit 2 has not been operational since the accident occurred.[29]

The New York Times reported on August 14, 1993, 14 years after the accident, that the clean up had been finished. According to the United States NRC, 2.3 million gallons of waste water had been removed.[30]

The incident was widely publicized internationally, and had far-reaching effects on public opinion, particularly in the United States. The China Syndrome, a movie about a nuclear disaster, which was released just 12 days before the incident, became a blockbuster hit.[31]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Mile_Island_Nuclear_Generating_Station accessed 07052018