Nuclear disasters are a terrifying thought. Not just because of the immediate results, but the long-term ecological effects. Shows like HBO's Chernobyl have to do very little dramatizing to capture the horrors that can occur. It's probably for this reason that Netflix's new four-part series The Meltdown: Three-Mile Island isn't mincing fiction with the reality, instead presenting an in-depth documentary about the worst nuclear event in U.S. history that took place on Three-Mile Island in Middletown, PA.
Set to premiere on the streaming service on May 4th, the series will reexamine the series of missteps that led to the “first step in a nuclear nightmare" that occurred when the Middletown, Pennsylvania-based plant suffered a breakdown in 1979 and that led to the plant’s parent company, Metropolitan Edison, downplaying the crisis. While claiming no radiation had been detected off plant grounds, inspectors tracked increased levels of radiation as well as a contaminated water leak. Chief engineer Richard Parks, who ultimately served as the whistleblower to the whole affair and prevented the meltdown from affecting all of the East Coast, will give his personal account. As the trailer below shows, it will be an account depicted through dramatic reenactments, archival footage, never-before-seen home video, and in-depth interviews that will immerse audiences in the terrifying true story:
The Meltdown: Three-Mile Island is directed by Academy Award–nominated director Kief Davidson (The Ivory Game) who executive produces the series alongside Robert Fernandez and Dan Levinson. Davidson had this to say:
“I believe the lessons of Meltdown resonate far beyond the events of 1979. Even as we expose the complex web of corporate greed which nearly led to our radioactive ruin, we find the small acts of bravery that changed the course of history. We need to learn from the Three Mile Island disaster as we face the current climate and energy crisis.”
Michael and Carla Shamberg (Erin Brockovich) will produce the series through and Moxie Pictures along with serving as additional executive producers. They had these final words to say:
“Whistleblowers are real-life superheroes. They risk their lives or livelihoods when they speak truth to power to protect the rest of us.”
Stay tuned!