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On March 28, 1979, the Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania suffered a nuclear meltdown. Over 100-thousand people were evacuated the following day when an emergency was declared. Despite steps taken to improve nuclear safety following the catastrophe, the incident has left a permanent scar on the area.

Marry Osborne is a resident of Harrisburg city.

On the morning of the nuclear meltdown, she walked out of her house, and noticed a peculiar metallic taste in her mouth. It was only later that she realized this was an early sign of the nuclear leak.

Despite clean-up operations, Osborne says the area remains contaminated.

"When the wind blows my way, sometimes this goes off, but not like it used to. It used to go off every day, when they were doing clean-up and that was for ten years," Osborne said.

The inadequate response to the meltdown and concerns over health risks NOW still angers those who experienced the event.

"People died here. Mass, random, premeditated murder -- that's what happened at Three Mile Island. If they would have helped people, if they would have evacuated, many people would not have gotten cancer, babies wouldn't have gotten deformed or hurt," Osborne said.

However, officials insist that positive changes have been implemented, and that safety has improved greatly following the incident.

"After Three Mile Island, there was a multi million dollar improvement program, that improved safety, improved operations. It actually made nuclear power plants not only safer in the United States, but also much more productive," said Lake Barrett, former site director of Three Mile Island Nuclear Plant.

Even after 37 years, residents still have doubts over operations at the nuclear plant. They say they are especially concerned about the long-term health implications caused by the accident.

Meanwhile, the US government continues its effort to work out a solution.