Officials probe radiation leak

By David Liu

A radiation leak was detected at Three Mile Island and federal officials are investigating now to determine why the nuclear power plant got contaminated with radiation.

About 150 employees working inside the facility have been exposed to the radiation contamination at doses up to 16 millirem. One chest xray can be as high as 30 millirem. The maximum allowed exposure for the workers is 2,000 millirem each year, according to Exelon, the biggest nuclear power operator that runs the plant.

The company said that the incident would not pose any health risk to the public.

Radiation is a known cancer-causing agent and exposure to it increases risk of a variety of cancers. And each tiny bit of radiation results in some small damage.  There is no safe threshold and the damage is cumulative.

The plant is located near the Pennsylvania state capital of Harrisburg and it once created worldwide headlines in 1979 when one of its reactors partially melted down, Reuters reported.