【英语时差8,16】核电厂更安全了吗？（上）（在线收听）

In 1979, there was an incident at a nuclear power plant on Three Mile Island, in Pennsylvania, when radioactive steam leaked into the open air. Nobody was hurt, although thousands of people fled the area. Seven years later, a much worse accident happened at the Chernobyl nuclear station in Ukraine. One of the reactors melted down, building up tremendous pressure and steam. The reactor’s lid blew off, spewing radioactive materials into the atmosphere. These incidents stalled the nuclear industry in the United States and throughout much of Western Europe for the next few decades. Now, though, with renewed interest in nuclear power as a non carbon emitting energy source, it’s worth wondering: have nuclear plants become safer since Three Mile Island and Chernobyl?