It was only a partial meltdown, some cooling systems failed and it was successfully contained! Safety precautions designed to stop a full meltdown and release of radiation succeeded.
I know that’s not really the point of your comment but I feel like this particular incident has a lot of misinfo and I wanted to help elucidate what happened.
A properly run nuclear plant will also expose people living within a 50 mile radius of the plant to less radiation than if it were a coal fired plant.
This isn’t true – radioactive gases were leaked into the surrounding area. The containment vessel remained intact, and NRC concluded that no measurable harm was done, but there was definitely a release and that’s why it was such a big deal. They evacuated children and pregnant women from the area in response.
