US President Barack Obama has ordered a review of safety at the country's nuclear plants in the wake of the crisis in Japan.
The fear of a massive nuclear meltdown has brought back memories for people living near the site of America's most serious nuclear accident.
Thousands of people fled the area around the plant at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania as it became the focus of the world's attention for four days in 1979.
A power failure in the four-month-old plant caused a reactor to shut down leading to a pressure build-up and a leak of coolant.
The core suffered a partial meltdown and disaster was only narrowly avoided.
Although the Three Mile Island plant is still operating, the reactor affected has remained shut down ever since.
People living the near plant, known as TMI to locals, say they feel enormous sympathy for those near the stricken area of Japan.
Mary Osborn, who still lives in the same house three miles from TMI, said: "They need to take care of each other health-wise and also environmentally.
"I am worried that an awful lot of people are not going to make it, that the radiation damage is extreme."
Campaigners say events in Japan are evidence that nuclear power is not safe.
Eric Epstein, who runs the anti-nuclear energy group Three Mile Island Alert, says the Japanese crisis will force people to re-examine the rights and wrongs of nuclear power.
He said: "People get lazy in terms of memory. This generation looks at Three Mile Island through the rear view mirror of history.
"They weren't adversely affected by it, they weren't viscerally impacted by Chernobyl and are now seeing a multiple core meltdown for the first time. It will have a impact."
Barack Obama has ordered safety review of all nuclear installations in the US but his administration remains committed to nuclear energy.
He said: "Nuclear power is also an important part of our own energy future. Our nuclear power plants have undergone exhaustive study, and have been declared safe for any number of extreme contingencies."
A cherry tree was planted at Three Mile Island by Japanese engineers who had come to learn the lessons of what went wrong.
Industry experts say the plant is now one of the safest in the world.
Exelon, the company that runs Three Mile Island, says it is monitoring events in Japan and will continue to learn all it can about such incidents.
In a statement, chairman John Rowe said: "Our plants are operating safely and our plant neighbours are safe."