Post by Joe Neubarth on Dec 20, 2011 13:46:40 GMT -5
I am a retired (almost 64 year old) male who has luckily lived one heck of a life doing a multitude of things that made life exciting.
Out of high school during the Viet Nam War in 1967 I entered the US Navy and volunteered for their Nuclear Power Program. I went through that program in 1968 to 1969 with a year and a half of technical training that I was to use on the job as a Reactor Plant operator. I had a lot of engineering courses, but I am NOT a nuclear engineer.
I know enough about Nuclear Power and radiation to know that we have a very serious problem with respect to particulate radiation contaminating the entire planet. With cancer rates soaring with no explanation other than the rapidly increasing exposure of the people of the earth to radiation I feel it is time to tell the people what is happening.
When I went through training I was lied to by well intentioned men who told me that I was perfectly safe as long as my exposure was kept to low levels. That was a lie, though, at the time, none of us knew what the truth was about that subject.
When I graduated from Nuclear Power School (the last six months were in Idaho) I had to wait to be assigned to one of the four nuclear powered surface ships that we had. I wore glasses for Myopia and could not serve on Submarines because of those glasses. I was OK with that as that meant I would serve a short period at some other command until a billet opened up for me on either the Long Beach, the Truxtun, the Enterprise or the Bainbridge.
I filled out what we called a dream sheet and waited a few days after graduation to receive orders to my new duty station. On the dream sheet (Stated desire to where you want to be assigned) I had asked for a large ship class in the Northwest of the United States.
When my orders came in two days later, I was assigned to little minesweeping boats and launches operating out of Charleston, SC.
I had asked for the Northwest and received the Southeast.
I had asked for a large ship and had been assigned to boats and launches. Hummmmm?
That was OK, though as life when you are only 20 or 21 is an adventure. I served there two years (Traveled to Europe twice while operating those launches) and then received orders to the USS Truxtun in Long Beach, Calif.
During the two years in Charleston I had spent a lot of time in the library reading and learning. I had every intention to eventually go to college when my enlistment was up, so was getting ready by learning about everything and anything that interested me. To this day I keep that as my family motto for my children, "Learn as much as you can about everything."
I had started reading about this "safe operation of Nuclear Reactors" that I knew I was a part of, and found out that there was a divergence of opinion among engineers and scientists about radiation exposure and cancer. I read enough to know that maybe, just maybe, it was not safe.
I continued to read as much as I could about that subject and when my orders came for the USS Truxtun, I really did not want to go; but I was an American serving my country and would follow my orders. I would just bend them a little bit to my advantage.
If I left immediately to serve on that nuclear powered ship I would be on her for two years. I delayed my departure as much as I could by asking my immediate superiors to request a hold on me to complete various work assignments because I had become well aware that the nuclear power proponents were lying like hell about the "safe" effects of low level radiation.
Taking advantage of all the rules and regulation regarding a change of station, I asked for ten days to drive across country and asked for all of my leave available at the time so I could delay my arrival on the nuclear powered ship for as long as possible.
After 44 days I arrived in Long Beach to board my new ship. You have to study to qualify to be an operator. I did that as far away from the reactor plants as possible while still staying on the ship and on days that I could leave the ship, I studied in a library. I qualified and worked as a plant operator for the next year most of which was spent off of Viet Nam in 1972 and 1973.
When my enlistment was near its last few months I applied for an early release so I could attend summer school. It was granted, and I spend a grand total of 15 months on the Truxtun before entering civilian life to go to college.
The information that I have learned since then has confirmed that you risk your life each day that you are near a nuclear plant that is a radioactive particulate emitter.
In college in San Marcos, California I met a beautiful young lady and we were married. When it came time to buy a house I made certain that the houses I looked at were a good driving distance away from the nearest Nuclear Power plant at San Onofre (Located to the extreme north of San Diego County.) Once I chose a potential house site, I had a friend bring over a Geiger counter to check the lot and the cement slab for radiation. My lot and house were OK, but the house three doors down the street had a frightening reading on the slab where the master bedroom was located.
I wonder how many people actually check their house for radiation. I suppose those who have the knowledge are more prone to do so. As I see it, I was going to be making babies in that house, so I have a responsibility to decrease the chance they would have genetic deformities or cancer or tumors later in life. Now, so many years later I have raised 30 kids and not one of them has cancer, so I think I did the right thing.
Out of high school during the Viet Nam War in 1967 I entered the US Navy and volunteered for their Nuclear Power Program. I went through that program in 1968 to 1969 with a year and a half of technical training that I was to use on the job as a Reactor Plant operator. I had a lot of engineering courses, but I am NOT a nuclear engineer.
I know enough about Nuclear Power and radiation to know that we have a very serious problem with respect to particulate radiation contaminating the entire planet. With cancer rates soaring with no explanation other than the rapidly increasing exposure of the people of the earth to radiation I feel it is time to tell the people what is happening.
When I went through training I was lied to by well intentioned men who told me that I was perfectly safe as long as my exposure was kept to low levels. That was a lie, though, at the time, none of us knew what the truth was about that subject.
When I graduated from Nuclear Power School (the last six months were in Idaho) I had to wait to be assigned to one of the four nuclear powered surface ships that we had. I wore glasses for Myopia and could not serve on Submarines because of those glasses. I was OK with that as that meant I would serve a short period at some other command until a billet opened up for me on either the Long Beach, the Truxtun, the Enterprise or the Bainbridge.
I filled out what we called a dream sheet and waited a few days after graduation to receive orders to my new duty station. On the dream sheet (Stated desire to where you want to be assigned) I had asked for a large ship class in the Northwest of the United States.
When my orders came in two days later, I was assigned to little minesweeping boats and launches operating out of Charleston, SC.
I had asked for the Northwest and received the Southeast.
I had asked for a large ship and had been assigned to boats and launches. Hummmmm?
That was OK, though as life when you are only 20 or 21 is an adventure. I served there two years (Traveled to Europe twice while operating those launches) and then received orders to the USS Truxtun in Long Beach, Calif.
During the two years in Charleston I had spent a lot of time in the library reading and learning. I had every intention to eventually go to college when my enlistment was up, so was getting ready by learning about everything and anything that interested me. To this day I keep that as my family motto for my children, "Learn as much as you can about everything."
I had started reading about this "safe operation of Nuclear Reactors" that I knew I was a part of, and found out that there was a divergence of opinion among engineers and scientists about radiation exposure and cancer. I read enough to know that maybe, just maybe, it was not safe.
I continued to read as much as I could about that subject and when my orders came for the USS Truxtun, I really did not want to go; but I was an American serving my country and would follow my orders. I would just bend them a little bit to my advantage.
If I left immediately to serve on that nuclear powered ship I would be on her for two years. I delayed my departure as much as I could by asking my immediate superiors to request a hold on me to complete various work assignments because I had become well aware that the nuclear power proponents were lying like hell about the "safe" effects of low level radiation.
Taking advantage of all the rules and regulation regarding a change of station, I asked for ten days to drive across country and asked for all of my leave available at the time so I could delay my arrival on the nuclear powered ship for as long as possible.
After 44 days I arrived in Long Beach to board my new ship. You have to study to qualify to be an operator. I did that as far away from the reactor plants as possible while still staying on the ship and on days that I could leave the ship, I studied in a library. I qualified and worked as a plant operator for the next year most of which was spent off of Viet Nam in 1972 and 1973.
When my enlistment was near its last few months I applied for an early release so I could attend summer school. It was granted, and I spend a grand total of 15 months on the Truxtun before entering civilian life to go to college.
The information that I have learned since then has confirmed that you risk your life each day that you are near a nuclear plant that is a radioactive particulate emitter.
In college in San Marcos, California I met a beautiful young lady and we were married. When it came time to buy a house I made certain that the houses I looked at were a good driving distance away from the nearest Nuclear Power plant at San Onofre (Located to the extreme north of San Diego County.) Once I chose a potential house site, I had a friend bring over a Geiger counter to check the lot and the cement slab for radiation. My lot and house were OK, but the house three doors down the street had a frightening reading on the slab where the master bedroom was located.
I wonder how many people actually check their house for radiation. I suppose those who have the knowledge are more prone to do so. As I see it, I was going to be making babies in that house, so I have a responsibility to decrease the chance they would have genetic deformities or cancer or tumors later in life. Now, so many years later I have raised 30 kids and not one of them has cancer, so I think I did the right thing.