Three Mile Island staff falsified data, NRC says

Operators at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plants falsified records before the severe March 1979 accident, a Nuclear Regulatory Commission official said.

Timothy Martin, a member of the NRC's team investigating the accident, appeared to confirm allegations that plant management falsified certain calculations concerning a leaking valve to avoid shutting down the reactor for repairs. ''I can tell you for a fact that the records were falsified,'' he said at a meeting of the five NRC commissioners.