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Pump triggers Three Mile Island reactor shutdown
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The Three Mile Island nuclear power plant shut
down unexpectedly Thursday when a reactor coolant
pump failed, federal regulators said. "This
appears to be a fairly straightforward shutdown,"
said Neil Sheehan, a spokesman for the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission. "Every indication we're
getting is the reactor safety systems are
performing the way they are designed. The Unit 1
reactor shut off automatically about 220 p.m..
There is no danger to the public, but the release
of steam in the process created "a loud noise
heard by nearby residents." Thursday marked the
second time in a month that the reactor has been
shut down. Three Mile Island is about 10 miles
outside Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
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In Other News

• For the most devoted Apple aficionados, it's been
  a long week. But as Thursday night became Friday
  morning around the world, some of those diehards
  who spent hours waiting in line were greeted with
  open doors at Apple stores and other retailers
  selling the new iPhone 5.
• Endeavour will do flyovers Friday of Los Angeles,
  Sacramento and San Francisco atop a modified
  jumbo jet -- weather permitting -- then land back
  at Los Angeles International Airport to end its
  three-day journey to its retirement home. Good
  visibility is key, since the purpose of the
  flight up the state of California and back is to
  show off Endeavour to the American public from
  the sky, and NASA encourages onlookers to share
  their sightings of the airborne spectacle on
  social media.
• Several diplomatic facilities were shuttered
  Friday as many brace for intensified protests
  over the anti-Islam movie "Innocence of Muslims,"
  as well as recently published cartoons in a
  French publication of a figure resembling the
  Prophet Mohammed. Demonstrations have raged for
  days as many in the Muslim world are angry about
  the U.S.-made Prophet Mohammed mocking film and
  the French cartoon.