Radioactive: The Women of Three Mile Island

A never-before-told story about the women who fought the Nuclear Industry and their BIG LIE. They could have been warned but instead were kept in the dark, even after the Three Mile Island disaster occurred - putting their lives and their children's lives at risk. But they didn't slink away into darkness. They took on Goliath.

The film's director clearly built close relationship with the women who opened their homes to her, and she then interviews experts in the field to fill out the story. Cancer rates in that area are through the roof, and the suffering is horrific. And all of that could have been avoided if our government and big business believed in transparency.

This film fills a critical void in the coverage of Three Mile Island. While it is tempting to let TMI fade into the past, the impact it had on nearby residents continues to this day. Hutner has done a masterful job of telling the stories of these women and integrating it with the science that suggests that harms to health might have been greater than understood at the time. That combination, the stories of the victims together with cutting edge science is not so easy to get right and she has done it masterfully. While current research continues and the full answers are not yet known, it is appropriate to take stock and consider the risks of nulcear power even as some are promoting it as an alternative to fossil fuel combustion.

This film has been shown at two festivals so far, one in NYC, one in DC. I attended both, and in both it received standing ovations from the audience. Meticulous in reporting the science and the facts, it does an even better job capturing the emotional tension of four mothers taking on the federal government and corrupt corporations that were pushing the fake narrative that there was "nothing to see here" at Three Mile Island.

Calling the corporation "corrupt" is no exagerration, since court cases the women brought proved a pattern of falsifying documents, cheating on licensing exams, and lying to regulators.

Those government regulators also continue to lie to the public about the radiation released at TMI and the health effects on the downwinders, again as documented in the movie.

Anyone who is thinking about drinking the radioactive kool-aid the Biden administration is offering in the form of tax payer support for the nuclear industry needs to watch this movie and learn about its decades of lying and cover ups and cheer at the bravery of the women who exposed it.

This brilliant movie tells the moving story of three women and their communities that were greatly impacted by a horrible nuclear accident. It is masterfully told thru interviews and scenes where the lying and deceit of the industry and politicians attempting to minimize and deny any of the risk can be seen. It unfolds beautifully under the direction of its superb writer and director and it's cinematographer. The three women and the various people in the documentary bring credibility and a humanity to the story. The reality of the horror is brought to life and is frightening

Shouldn't be missed!

Fascinating documentary on the women--local mothers, a waitress, a young lawyer--who fought efforts to downplay the accident by the nuclear industry and the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Their efforts led to hearings that cast doubt on officials' statements--for example, it turns out no one knows how much radiation was released because the sensors atop the towers were pushed past their maximum limits--and led to the federal prosecution and conviction of the utility company for falsifying records.

The film notes that more such doubt is cast by recent peer-reviewed, journal-published research. One paper shows that cancer rates are higher where the radioactive plume fell. Another paper explains the disparity between official expectations of illness and the observed higher rate--in part because the expectations accounted for short-lasting gamma radiation and not fat-soluble beta radiation.

The film notes that the efforts of these women did not stop the reopening of TMI after six years--but did help scuttle more than 100 planned nuclear plants.

Well worth seeing.