[cdn-nucl-l] FW: Three Mile Island Suits Reinstated

["Cuttler, Jerry" <CuttlerJ@aecl.ca>]

> ----------
> From: 	Michael C. Baker[SMTP:mcbaker@lanl.gov]
> Reply To: 	Ans-pie
> Sent: 	Wednesday, November 03, 1999 9:48 AM
> To: 	Multiple recipients of list ans-pie
> Subject: 	Three Mile Island Suits Reinstated
> 
> 
> FYI...Mike...mcbaker@lanl.gov
> 
> 
> >Wednesday November 3 3:37 AM ET
> >Three Mile Island Suits Reinstated
> >By GENARO C. ARMAS Associated Press Writer
> >
> >PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A federal appeals court has allowed nearly 2,000
> people
> >to revive lawsuits over health problems they blame on the 1979 accident
> at
> >the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant.
> >
> >A three-judge panel of the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled
> Tuesday
> >that a lower court judge erred three years ago when she threw out the
> cases
> >stemming from the worst nuclear accident in the nation's history.
> >
> >That's little consolation for Amelia Beck, who says she has no plans to
> >revive her late husband's lawsuit.
> >
> >Earl Beck was one of plaintiffs who said their illnesses stemmed from the
> >meltdown at the plant in central Pennsylvania. He was diagnosed with
> >lymphatic cancer in 1983 and died in December.
> >
> >``I don't plan to sue anyone for anything,'' she said. ``Now he's gone.
> We
> >could have used (the money) but I'm not going to worry about that now.''
> >
> >The 3-month-old Unit 2 reactor was generating electricity at 97 percent
> of
> >its capacity in the early hours of March 28, 1979, when the control
> boards
> >flashed the first warnings of the only general emergency ever declared at
> a
> >U.S. nuclear plant.
> >
> >Between one third and one half of the reactor's uranium-filled core
> melted
> >in the first hours of the accident. The ensuing cleanup took nearly 12
> years
> >and cost $973 million.
> >
> >Beck was 72 when U.S. District Chief Judge Sylvia Rambo ruled in 1996
> that
> >there was insufficient evidence to link the plaintiffs' various claims of
> >cancer and birth defects to exposure to the radiation leak at the plant.
> >
> >She threw out the cases of 2,000 plaintiffs based on testimony during a
> >``mini-trial'' or a test hearing of a group of 10 ``typical'' plaintiffs.
> >
> >In Tuesday's ruling, Circuit Court Judge Theodore McKee said the
> remaining
> >plaintiffs should have been given a chance to object to Rambo's decision.
> >The ruling allowed all but the 10 plaintiffs involved in the test hearing
> to
> >revive their cases.
> >
> >``It is a victory and defeat for both sides,'' said plaintiffs' attorney
> >Arnold Levin. ``But for the 10 people whose case was thrown out, I feel
> >sorry for them. As for the others, we will get back to their cases and
> >pursue them.''
> >
> >Tom Kauffman, a spokesman for TMI, declined to comment, saying that
> >officials there had not yet seen the decision.
> >
> >*    *    *    *    *    *
> >
> >The court opinion is found at http://pacer.ca3.uscourts.gov/
> >
> >
>