"The problem at the Three Mile Island Nuclear power plant has grown more serious, and the government says there is a theoretical possibility of meltdown of the nuclear core" NBC News report

On Day Three the picture got a bit different. Words like "Meltdown", "China Syndrome" and "evacuation" were being bandied around as the news from Three Mile Island got worse and worse. Attempts to stop the leaks of radiation in the atmosphere were fruitless, and the cooling process wasn't going as hoped - damage had already been detected at the core, and for the first time there was real fear of a complete meltdown of the system. Of course, the press were being blamed by the spin-meisters for triggering the panic, and officials were still telling everyone publicly there was nothing to worry about and all would get back to normal "soon". Nevertheless, the Governors office advised Pregnant mothers and mothers of pre-school children to get out if they lived within a five mile radius of the plant. Clearly, the spin and the attempted gloss-overs weren't working.