Harold Denton
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Harold Denton was born and raised in Salem, North Carolina. Attending a technical school, he earned his major in nuclear engineering. He was offered a job at DuPont, which he eargerly accepted. However, he only spent five years there before taking a job with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. After ten years there, he became the director of the Division of Nuclear Reactor Regulation at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, a position he held until his retirement in 1998. During that time, He was called upon to be President Carters personal advisor at Three Mile Island.
[edit] At Three Mile Island
Harold Denton, director of the Division of Nuclear Reactor Regulation at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, was President Carter's personal representative to Harrisburg "for the duration of the problem" at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant. The arrival of Denton seemed to immediately calm the frayed nerves of public officials and stem the anger of a frustrated press corps. Reporter Steve Liddick of WCMB radio explained to writer Mark Stephens that "Harold Denton was trusted because he looked like a regular, down-to-earth kind of guy. And people wanted someone to believe."
Denton's job was far from easy. It fell to him to inform Thornburgh and Carter about a possibly explosive hydrogen bubble discovered above the cooling water, at the top of the reactor pressure vessel. That bubble-and whether or not it would mix with oxygen and set off a devastating explosion -- proved to be the source of intense debate, and fueled nightmarish images of a meltdown.
At the time of Carter's arrival on Sunday morning, April 1, the question as to whether the bubble would explode was still under debate. Denton informed the president of the risk just as he was preparing to enter the plant. "...I briefed the president on this bubble and the possibility of an explosive mixture and tried to give him the two sides that were out there, but we still didn't have single view on that," Denton remembered.
[edit] Now
Harold Denton is now retired, with his wife, Lucinda Denton, in Knoxville, TN. He has three kids, and seven grandkids. He has won multiple awards for his contribution at Three Mile Island, including the James N. Landis Medal. In an interview with Dick Thornburg concerning TMI, Thornburg said, "I have to admit that my first reaction was somewhat skeptical when President Carter said he was sending Harold Denton. I thought, "Oh, my, here's another Washington official coming out to advise us, but, when I met him and when we discussed his take on the situation, those doubts were very quickly removed. He proved to be a genuine hero with respect to this event. He was a much needed source of information for those of us who had the ultimate responsibility for the safety of the people in the area and the quality of the environment."
