Thirty years ago today, Temple resident Robert M. Dreibelbis Sr., a Met-Ed executive, was plunged into uncharted territory by the worst nuclear accident the U.S. had ever known.

By Jason Brudereck

Reading Eagle

Nearly four hours into the accident, Bob Dreibelbis was getting ready to leave his Temple home for work like any other day.

Then the phone rang.

Robert M. Dreibelbis Sr., purchasing manager for the electric utility Met-Ed, answered and found himself speaking to a Met-Ed engineering supervisor whose responsibilities included Three Mile Island.

It was 7:45 a.m. March 28, 1979, when the engineering supervisor called to tell Dreibelbis he had to quickly procure a helicopter to fly two men from the nuclear plant on an island three miles down river from Harrisburg because they had been exposed to radiation.

Lost and Stolen Nuclear Materials in the United States

"Right now, people are being irradiated..."

By Scott Portzline

Radiation can harm people without their knowledge since one can’t see it, hear it, feel it, taste it or smell it. You can be quite certain that there are numerous radioactive sources in position to harm or ultimately kill someone. Some of these sources will have been intentionally placed to cause injury or even death. For example -- someone deliberately contaminated the water cooler at the National Institute of Health two years ago.