KYW Flashback: Horrible Nuclear Mishap Makes History In Pa.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS) - It may be the most important story covered in 50 years at KYW Newsradio.

The potentially devastating accident at Three Mile Island outside of Harrisburg is still considered the worst nuclear mishap in American history.

Fear was palpable and reporter Richard Maloney recalls, "In retrospect, none of us at TMI truly understood how close we came to a cataclysmic catastrophe that would have continued to today and beyond."

Reporters were ill prepared for coverage of an event cloaked in scientific and technical terminology.

Many vividly recall the eerie silence that shrouded Harrisburg after most residents had fled.