Harold Denton
Harold Ray Denton (24 February 1936 – 13 February 2017) was the Director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation at the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) and is best known for his role as President Jimmy Carter's personal adviser for the Three Mile Island (TMI) accident.
Harold Denton | |
|---|---|
Harold Denton testifying before the Senate Committee, March 2009[1] | |
| Born | Harold Ray Denton 24 February 1936 |
| Died | 13 February 2017 (aged 80) Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Alma mater | North Carolina State University College of Engineering |
| Occupation | nuclear engineer |
| Years active | 1958–2017 |
| Known for | Former Director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| Spouse | Lucinda Vaden Oliver |
| Children | 3 |
After graduating in 1958 with a Bachelor of Science in nuclear engineering from North Carolina State University College of Engineering, Denton first worked at DuPont as an engineer for several years, before being hired by the USNRC. After 10 years, he became the Director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, a position he held until his retirement in 1998.
At Three Mile Island Edit
In 1979, President Carter sent Denton to the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Harrisburg, as his personal representative.[2] The arrival of Denton seemed to immediately calm the frayed nerves of public officials and stem the anger of a frustrated press corps. As reporter Steve Liddick of WCMB radio explained to writer Mark Stephens, "Harold Denton was trusted because he looked like a regular, down-to-earth kind of guy. And people wanted someone to believe."[3]
It was Denton's task to inform Pennsylvania Governor Dick Thornburgh and the President about the discovery of a possibly explosive hydrogen bubble above the cooling water, at the top of the reactor pressure vessel. The debate over whether the bubble would mix with oxygen and set off an explosion, fueled speculation of a meltdown.
At the time of Carter's arrival Sunday morning on 1 April, whether the bubble would explode was still under debate. Denton informed the President of the risk just as he was preparing to enter the plant. "...I briefed the President on this bubble and the possibility of an explosive mixture and tried to give him the two sides that were out there, but we still didn't have [a] single view on that," Denton recalled.[3]
Denton has won multiple awards for his contribution at Three Mile Island, including the James N. Landis Medal. In an interview with Dick Thornburgh concerning TMI, Thornburg said, "[Denton] proved to be a genuine hero with respect to this event. He was a much needed source of information for those of us who had the ultimate responsibility for the safety of the people in the area and the quality of the environment."[4]
Personal life Edit
On 11 July 1959, he married Lucinda Vaden Oliver, and they subsequently had three children.[5]
In December 2011, he participated in a symposium sponsored by the Japanese Society of Mechanical Engineers in Tokyo. This included a visit to several reactor sites damaged by the 11 March earthquake and tsunami where restoration and enhanced safety counter measures are in progress.
Denton died at his home in Knoxville, Tennessee from complications of Alzheimer's disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, aged 80.[6]
Notes Edit
- ^ U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety hearing entitled, "Three Mile Island – Looking Back on Thirty Years of Lessons Learned." Tuesday, 24 March 2009 10:30 am EDT, EPW Hearing Room – 406 Dirksen Office Building archived webcast
- ^ Gray, Mike and Rosen, Ira (2003) The Warning: Accident at Three Mile Island: A Nuclear Omen for the Age of Terror Norton, New York, page 224, ISBN 0-393-32469-9
- ^ a b Public Broadcasting Service (1999) "People & Events: Harold Denton" The American Experience: Meltdown at Three Mile Island
- ^ Public Broadcasting Service (1999) "Dick Thornburgh on: Harold Denton, NRC Official" The American Experience: Meltdown at Three Mile Island
- ^ "Harold Ray Denton" In Marquis Who's Who in America – 1994 (48th edition)
- ^ Matt Schudnel (22 February 2017). "Harold Denton, nuclear regulator who calmed fears at Three Mile Island, dies at 80". Washington Post. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
References Edit
- Dick Thornburgh, "Where the Evidence Leads", University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, PA, 2003. ISBN 0-8229-4220-8
- J. Samuel Walker, "Three Mile Island", University of California Press, Berkeley, CA. 2004, ISBN 0-520-23940-7
- Alan K Simpson, "Right in the Old Gazoo", William Morrow and Company, New York, N. Y. 1997, pp 52, ISBN 0-688-11358-3
- Hebert, H. Josef (28 March 2004) 25 years after Three Mile Island, nuclear industry still has demons" San Diego Union Tribune
- Harold Denton, Three Mile Island: prologue or epilogue? Harper-Collins, New York, pp. 133–150, ISBN 0-88410-629-2
- Public Broadcasting Service (1999) "People & Events: Harold Denton" The American Experience: Meltdown at Three Mile Island
- Public Broadcasting Service (1999) "Dick Thornburgh on: Harold Denton, NRC Official" The American Experience: Meltdown at Three Mile Island
External links Edit
- "The Harold and Lucinda Denton Papers" at the Pennsylvania State Archives