A deluge of 1979 U.S. diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks on Monday illustrate how intensely the partial meltdown at Three Mile Island grabbed the world's attention and thrust the future of nuclear energy into question.

Included in those communications are a series involving initial estimates of the human and environmental risks, as well as the response from world leaders to the unfolding crisis at the plant outside Harrisburg.

In a cable sent from the U.S. Embassy in Brussels to Dublin, Ireland, days after the March 28 incident, mounting interest from European officials is evident. All cables are unedited, but in some cases they've been clarified.

"Mrs. Aston, along with several other officials concerned with nuclear power situations in the ec [European Community], called DOE [U.S. Department of Energy] representative at usec brussels early this morning to request all available information on the subject incident."

In the days that followed, similar requests were relayed from foreign governments across the world. In one, French officials asked to have representatives present for the investigation and clean-up at Three Mile Island, while others questioned what the incident might mean for the future of nuclear energy in their own countries.

"Irish government has authorized preliminary preparations for country's first nuclear power plant," a cable sent from the U.S. Embassy in Dublin to the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., on March 30, 1979, reads.

"A final decision on the project is expected within the next 18 months. interest in nuclear issues is high at both working and policy levels. 2. given this interest we would appreciate being added to list of addressees which routinely receive messages relating to major nuclear issues, for example, cables such as ref a on three mile island nuclear plant and ref b on reactor safety report."

In a March 30, 1979, dispatch from the French Embassy in Paris to Washington, D.C., French officials requested access to the Three Mile Island site and investigation ahead of an upcoming debate on the subject of French energy policy.

"Minister of industry giraud had scheduled a debate on the french energy policy in parliament this coming wednesday and has scheduled a press conference for thursday. up to the minute factual information on the subject incident will, therefore, be very important," the cable reads.

In Germany, meanwhile, officials and diplomats were questioning whether news of Three Mile Island had contributed to what they called the "biggest anti-nuclear demonstration in Germany's history," one that drew tens of thousands to the streets of Hanover, but which had also been planned weeks before the Three Mile Island accident happened.

"It is not clear to what extent harrisburg encouraged additional participation, but it will undoubtedly be a strong asset for environmentalists in spreading their anti-nuclear message," a cable on the subject reads.

Years later, a nuclear disaster at a power plant in Chernobyl would only bolster those critics.

It was this type of public backlash that had Spanish officials worried in the days after Three Mile Island, and a cable sent from the U.S. Embassy in Madrid on April 2 included questions about the accident's implications for a then-developing National Energy Plan in Spain.

It was a similar story in Sweden, where a U.S. diplomat said "the harrisburg accident has had an immediate and profound impact on the swedish internal political debate," adding "this is hardly surprising for a country in which nuclear energy has been the most polarizing of political issues for several years."

In the Netherlands, Dutch officials said the chances for future development of nuclear energy had "certainly not improved" in the days after Three Mile Island.

And in Japan, home to the Fukushima nuclear disaster of 2011, the Three Mile Island incident prompted calls to "discontinue extensive reliance on U.S. technology" in nuclear reactors there, as well as for more independent research into reactor safety features. There were also calls for outright bans on nuclear energy.

In Cuba, where a first-of-its-kind nuclear power plant was in the works at the time, Fidel Castro's government blamed Three Mile Island on a "lack of safety peculiar to us reactors and construction practices," claiming Soviet commercial power reactors, in contrast, had never suffered accident.

Meanwhile, contact made by German officials through the U.S. Embassy in the days after the Three Mile Island incident included offers of assistance in repairing the damaged reactor.

"The nuclear research center in karlsruhe has developed a robot machine which might be of use in making repairs within reactor containment vessel at three mile island," a cable from an embassy official in Germany reads.

"schnurer briefly described the machine as a small remote-controlled truck with an artificial arm capable of going up and down stairs, handling screws, turning wheels, etc. the frg [Federal Republic of Germany] would like to offer it (and possibly other, unspecified machinery) to the nrc [U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission] should the nrc believe it would be of use. contact is dr. harde, director of the karlsruhe nuclear research center. if requested, embassy stands ready to contact dr. harde if washington interested."

It wasn't immediately clear if the offer was accepted.

In the end, the incident at the Three Mile Island plant was attributed to a failed cooling system which caused part of a reactor's core to melt.

The reactor was destroyed, and while some radioactive gas was released in the days after the accident, officials maintained it wasn't enough to be harmful. Evacuations were left voluntary for everyone but women and children.

The clean-up, however, would cost $1 billion, and the incident would also permanently alter the world's nuclear power industry, as confirmed by a historical plaque located on Route 441 near the site.

The U.S. diplomatic cables related to the incident were released by Wikileaks as part of a massive data dump on Monday. It involved more than half a million cables from 1979, including those covering the Iranian revolution, the siege of Mecca and Saddam Hussein becoming president of Iraq. Monday's release marked the 6-year anniversary of Wikileaks' release of classified cables sent to the U.S. State Department, which detailed assessments of countries and details of eavesdropping.

But rather than revealing state secrets, the Three Mile Island cables, at least, appear to have been declassified and approved for release by the U.S. Department of State in 2014. The documents have been added to Wikileaks' online "Public Library of US Diplomacy."

According to its website, Wikileaks "specializes in the analysis and publication of large datasets of censored or otherwise restricted official materials involving war, spying and corruption."

The organization remains cryptic and highly controversial, especially after its role in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, in which it largely focused its efforts on pulling back the curtain on Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, her campaign and the Democratic National Committee.