A 1977 Mason City High School graduate will be featured Thursday on the Discovery Channel's show, Nuclear Nightmare: Japan in Crisis. The program airs at 9 p.m. on Channel 46 in Mason City.

Margaret GIRTON HARDING, daughter of Gloria GIRTON of Wilmington, N.C., and the late Bruce GIRTON, owns her own consulting firm and oversees nuclear reactors in Saudi Arabia.

She earned her undergraduate degree in nuclear engineering from Iowa State University in 1981. She was employed by General Electric Nuclear Energy after college, working with reactors in Switzerland. After leaving GE - where she served as vice president of engineering quality - she began her own nuclear consulting firm, 4 Factor Consulting.

She has appeared on several news programs following the nuclear tragedy in Japan, including CNN, NBC Nightly News, The Today Show and FOX News.

Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, October of 2011