Other major events that marked Ferguson 's service at DOE were the gasoline shortages during the 1979 energy crisis caused by oil embargoes leveled at the United States during political upheaval in Iran , and the Three Mile Island accident at the nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania on March 28 , 1979 . On April 5 , 1979 , several days into the accident , Ferguson and his staff from DOE traveled to the Three-Mile Island site for a first-hand understanding of the cause , the damage done , and the recovery needs . The Nuclear Regulatory Commission ( NRC ) and utility owner Metropolitan Edison had not thought to involve the DOE , so Ferguson established a liaison between the NRC and the Office of Nuclear Programs because whatever lessons could be learned from the accident could be applied to other nuclear programs within DOE
Three Mile Island accident
Three Mile Island accident
Robert Ferguson (physicist)