The Nation - News from Dec. 8, 1987

Difficulties in extracting debris from the damaged Three Mile Island Unit 2 reactor have led officials to extend the date for completing the cleanup into 1989, a spokesman said. GPU Nuclear Corp., operator of TMI near Harrisburg, Pa., had planned to complete the estimated $1-billion cleanup by late 1988 and then place the plant in long-term storage. However, the company said the final shipments of debris from TMI-2 to a federal facility in Idaho, some work reducing radiation levels and the disposal of about 2 million gallons of radiation-laced water will likely extend into 1989. TMI-2 was damaged in 1979 in a partial meltdown of its nuclear core.