Radioactive: The Women of Three Mile Island recounts the 1979 nuclear meltdown at Three Mile Island, considered the worst commercial nuclear power disaster in U.S. history. It tells the story of four mothers from Pennsylvania who took their case to the Supreme Court.
Heidi Hutner, an associate professor at Stony Brook University, directed the film in 2022. Her work has gained relevance as discussions about nuclear energy resurface. Governor Kathy Hochul is considering investing in advanced nuclear reactors for New York's energy needs, while Microsoft plans to reopen a closed reactor at Three Mile Island for its AI data centers.
Hutner expresses caution about promoting nuclear energy as a renewable solution due to radiation emissions and inadequate oversight by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. She highlights environmental racism tied to uranium extraction from communities of color and Indigenous lands.
"[Ionizing] radiation is emitted from every nuclear power plant," Hutner said after a screening at Stony Brook. "It is legal to do so … but you will not see this information anywhere."
Stony Brook’s Collaborative for the Earth hosted a screening event on February 26, featuring a Q&A with Cynthia Folkers from Beyond Nuclear.
Hutner's interest in nuclear issues began after learning about historical above-ground bomb tests during lunch with Phyllis Resnick in 2009. This led her to explore how women's activism contributed to signing the Partial Nuclear Ban Treaty in 1963.
“Radiation is dangerous, but all you will hear is that it is not,” Hutner stated, comparing it to tobacco industry denials.
She found that women opposing radiation were often dismissed as irrational by male scientists and politicians. “Women who were worried about radiation exposure were accused of being [‘radiophobic’],” she said.
Hutner uses cinema to highlight forgotten communities affected by incidents like Three Mile Island. Her film premiered at Dances With Films festival in December 2022 and won several awards.
“My students tell me that I am the only professor who has taught them anything about nuclear energy other than saying it’s good for climate change,” she shared.
Her next project, Atomic Fire, will address uranium mining's impact on Native Americans' health. Additionally, she plans an essay collection on nuclear disasters and a book co-authored with Folkers examining nuclear history through a feminist lens.
Hutner will attend a United Nations meeting discussing the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons as a delegate in March.
The Collaborative for the Earth invites public discussion on nuclear energy's role in fighting climate change during The New York Climate Exchange’s summit from April 23-24.