Utility Says TMI Cleanup Will Be Finished in 2 Years

WASHINGTON — The operator of the Three Mile Island nuclear plant said Friday that the cleanup of the damaged reactor should be finished within two years, despite delays caused by the rapid growth of algae in the reactor.

General Public Utilities Corp. executives told the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that they will finish the cleanup by September, 1988--almost a decade after the March 28, 1979, accident that caused the overheating and partial meltdown at the plant 10 miles southeast of Harrisburg, Pa.