ExNavyNuke.com Blog

Once a Dig-it, always a Dig-it

noreply@blogger.com (Ex Navy Nuke.com Blog) — Fri, 14 Feb 2014 19:24:00 +0000

Image of Dig-It multi-purpose tool

Every submarine, cruiser or carrier has a nuke on board who, for whatever reason, no matter how often they get screwed (a typical example would be defined as steaming for coner liberty) or are awake for 30 hours straight doing drills preparing for ORSE or the long stressful hours or the significant time away from your family, etc. Yet deep down they still “dig-it”. In other words, they enjoy what would make most other people miserable.

The reality is, in many ways, why would anyone other than a masochist “dig” a life like this? The fact is, after their first sea command half of the nukes leave the Navy for better opportunities in the civilian word.

I cannot judge a person for digging something I would not, we all are familiar with the term,”One person's trash is another person's treasure”. Nonetheless, I am unsure as to how this occurs.

Here are some of my theories which come to immediately to mind: 1) you tell yourself you enjoy the misery in order to get yourself through it 2) you believe there is nothing better for you in the civilian world 3) you are trying to get into an officer program and realize your time as an enlisted nuke is limited 4) you have physiological issues which were not caught during the nuclear training pipeline.

In light of the possible reasons if you are still on or used to be on a boat how can you tell if your fellow nuke is a digit?

1) Expressing no apparent desire to get off the boat and enjoy a decent quality of life 2) discussing the occurrences of the engine room while they are on liberty. In my case, being stationed in Hawaii there were so many other things which might be discussed other than the latest engine room incident with your engineering officer 3) Life after the Nuclear Navy is not a discussion. Furthermore, a digit would stay in for 40 years if the Navy would allow them to and had billets to fill. 4) Telling nuke jokes to the civilian community and not being able to figure out why you get blank stares in return.

Do you remember any one on you past commands you could describe as a “dig-it”. Anyone care to provide some insight as to why?

P.S. And what was with the Leatherman or Gerber multi-tool every “dig-it” seemed to carry?

Image courtesy of www.leatherman.com

The Navy Nuke checkout process

noreply@blogger.com (Ex Navy Nuke.com Blog) — Thu, 26 Dec 2013 19:59:00 +0000

Image of Qualification Card

We all remember the checkout process as we went through the nuclear pipeline. The idea was as you picked up more plant knowledge you would acquire enough signatures on your qualification card to allow you qualify your watch station.

A qualified watch stander would ask you bunch of questions about the subject you were trying to get the signed off. A question or two might be relevant while the others could be classified as useless.

After enough questions you would be asked something which you did not know the answer to. This resulted in a look-up meaning you would find out the answer and get back to the person who gave you a look-up. After providing your response and a few more iterations with look-ups to additional items (if you didn’t get tossed out) you left with the “John Hancock” on your qualification card and headed for the next checkout.

The entire point of training is to prepare you to do your job which is being a qualified watch-stander prepared to keep the plant in a safe condition during normal operation and in the event of any possible casualties. Keeping this goal in mind might there be a better a way to prepare someone to do that?

The checkout proves you can look-up answers to questions you did not remember at the time of your checkout but why not just give the information I needed for a watch-stander to do his/her job.

Any nuke will tell you there is not any lack of things you need to keep mind in order to qualify and stand the watch on your own.

Photo courtesy of flickr.com

“I Had it, You Got It”

noreply@blogger.com (Ex Navy Nuke.com Blog) — Tue, 02 Jul 2013 04:38:00 +0000

Duty section watchstanders logs

Any nuke will tell you how we were trained to relieve a watch. For starters, like you learned in nuke school you let the oncoming watch stander know what is going on with the plant and what he will need to do during his watch before signing over the logs to your relief. Then there are watch section turnovers which occur once you arrive at the fleet. In my time, the simplest turnover I have heard included the six words, “I had it, you got it”.

I remember one instance during deployment when the watch stander scheduled to relieve me at 8:00 A.M. arrived in no condition to relieve the watch due to his clear inebriation. I am a firm believer of looking out for your buddies but, on the other hand, you are now day after duty and you would like some liberty.

On another occasion I went aft to relive the SRO who. To my surprise, I came across a set of logs lying on the deck after I opened the watertight door giving me access to the engine room. Surely these were the shutdown rover logs. To my shock these were the SRO logs and I happened to be a long way from the maneuvering area. I arrived at the horseshoe with trepidation as to what I would find; fortunately the plant seemed stable even though the pressurizer light happened to be on as if the pressurizer heater button needed for some attention.

I remember another instance where I had been summoned to relieve the watch. As I walked through berthing I noticed a set of signed logs lying on the lump of blankets under which some unidentified crew member slept peacefully. Was this person signed into the watch? I have learned during my time as a nuke on occasions you should not ask questions you do not want the answers to. In any case, I figured the guy on watch who I needed to relieve would want to get to the rack so I did not gave the question another thought.

What are your stories? - What are some of the most interesting “turnovers” you conducted in your time as a nuke?

Written nuclear qualification exams, a question of Integrity

noreply@blogger.com (Ex Navy Nuke.com Blog) — Tue, 02 Jul 2013 04:37:00 +0000

Student cheating on test

I remember the moment as if it had occurred yesterday. I had entered Nuclear Field A school as an ET after completing Boot Camp in May of 1995 and as we were about be processed EMC Paul Spracklin (at the time) addressed our group and the question he recommended we ask ourselves as we embarked on our training to become nukes was, “What are you going to do when no one I looking?”

This quote came to mind when I read the Navy had discovered a cheating ring aboard one of its submarines, resulting in the firing of its commanding officer.

A former officer wrote in a book published last year his superiors urged him to accept an answer key to pass a nuclear qualification exam. He said crew members received answers by email, and the submarines leadership ignored him when he complained about cheating.

Chief Sparklin’s statement did not mean a lot to me at the time but during my career as a nuke I recalled instances where you had to make a call of doing the “right” thing with no one in khakis breathing down your neck making sure you did.

I remember an issue with an out of specification on our Power Plant Indicator (PPI’s) which if the Engineering Duty Officer had been notified RC division would be tasked to troubleshoot on the last night of liberty before a long underway. What call did I make? What do you think I did?

In the case of the U.S.S. Memphis, the largest surprise is large numbers of the khaki’s involved in such a massive deviation of the integrity EMC Spracklin spoke to us on that morning in May 1995. On my boat I would have found it difficult to believe such deception would be pervasive at such high level. The officers and chiefs in our engineering department followed our Reactor Plant Manuals even when what they said made absolutely no sense. Did they not think someone would find out sooner or later? Then again I left the nuclear Navy in 2000. Could the nuclear Navy have changed so much since I left?

Now the question I’d like to close with is,” How is the nuclear navy going to reestablish its integrity with everyone is looking? Hint: there is no answer key on this test.

Here’s a website for all you nukes to check out when you get a chance

noreply@blogger.com (Ex Navy Nuke.com Blog) — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 06:43:00 +0000

Surfing Websites

I was trolling the Internet one evening for some good Navy related sites. On most occasions, I do not come across anything extraordinary. In a few instances I encounter content which made it worth the effort to check out the various homepages.

In the same way, I would like people to be able to find this blog and take something away from it after reading the entries. The casual reader may be challenged to believe some thought goes into the topics discussed and into writing these entries keeping in mind the people this blog is written for and what ExNavyNuke.com is intended to be about. I would be very disappointed if any prospective reader found reading these postings a waste of time, O.K. enough digression for now.

The posting I am thinking of was about a nuke that left the Navy and took the time to reflect on what he wished he had done differently looking back at his days as a nuke.

I will not kill the thunder of the details of the posting. Here is the link if you wanted to read another Ex Nuke’s rambling for yourself Read More: . After checking this site out please do not hesitate to check out Navynukejobfinder.com. Tell Dustin I sent you.

Reading Dustin’s posting made me give some thoughts to my time as a nuke. Perhaps I will dedicate a future posting to the things I feel I could have done better upon reflection on my time as a nuke.

How did I wind up doing this for a living after my time as a nuke?

noreply@blogger.com (Ex Navy Nuke.com Blog) — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 16:47:00 +0000

What did you do after serving as a nuke?

After leaving the service nukes may work in industries related to their nuclear training. Some typical paths include getting an Electrical Engineering degree on the GI bill and embarking upon careers in utilities, electricity or electronics related fields. By tradition, in the old days guys would work in the nuclear power field as reactor operators, or in industries involving electricity (motors, pump), electronics, and semiconductors. My case was usual once I transitioned into a position as a product support engineer working on semiconductor manufacturing equipment.

However, in many instances once their nuke tour was finished the Ex Navy Nuke wound up doing something entirely different than their training and sea tour. One example is a Reactor Operator who ended up as a micro-biologist after going back to college on the GI Bill. I know of another nuclear electrician who would up becoming an architect and an ELT who is now running a marketing company.

Without a doubt many ways exist to making a living whether you are using your nuclear training or not. I find it fascinating on many occasions it is more interesting to look at where guys have gone after getting their DD214’s rather than the path got us into the MEP’s office in the first place.

Are you doing something drastically opposite what you did after your time as a nuke?

Who else but nukes would you expect to work here?

noreply@blogger.com (Ex Navy Nuke.com Blog) — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 06:15:00 +0000

Diablo Canyon Power Plant

I was on a sales call at the Pacific Gas & Electric’s nuclear Power Plant at Diablo Canyon in San Luis Obispo, California. My goal was to get them to purchase one of our partner’s auto transformers. As with any highly engineered product in order to ensure the unit could be installed upon arrival we would need to go in and measure the cement pad to ensure our application engineers would be able to design a transformer of the correct size.

Diablo Canyon happened to be a nuclear facility; therefore, we would need to clear security in order to access the location where the transformer would go. In order to get to the front gate you had to drive seven miles on road overlooking the Pacific Ocean and once you got parked in the Parking Lot and made your way to the administration building you had to pass hordes of Ex-Marines carrying high caliber automatic weapons.

The weather on morning of my arrival was a bit windy when I arrived so I took my Navy issued Pea coat along. It is the ONLY item of clothing left from my original sea bag which was issued to me during my first days in boot camp. The balance of my clothes including the dungarees and all went into a dumpster and soon as I walked through the Makalapa gate at Pearl Harbor for the last time.

As I crossed the checkpoint one of the staff asked if I had ever been in the Navy. Once I confirmed I had served he happened to be an ex nuke which surprised me at first. Later I thought, “I am at a nuclear power facility, where the hell else would you find ex nukes?”

Finally, he asked me if I might be interested in getting a job at Diablo Canyon. The situation was slightly awkward since I boss happened to be standing right next to me. Once we went into the facility and made our measurements we returned back through the various security checkpoints to where we started. After we started the long drive back to the San Francisco Bay area I thought,” what would I do in a nuclear plant 12 years after my EAOS date and after having entered the dark side of technical sales and marketing?” What would the possibility be of standing some watch as RO after getting qualified?

Then reality kicked back in, since I had temporally forgotten I had been there and done that already thank you very much……

Image courtesy of http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/03/17/BUA01IDTUO.DTL

5 tidbits about going to college after being a nuke

noreply@blogger.com (Ex Navy Nuke.com Blog) — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 16:40:00 +0000

Image of an Ex Navy Nuke going to class

Once your time as a nuke is complete using the credits gathered from power school and active duty it would seem attending college and completing your degree would be the next logical step. I am sure many of you believe college will be more challenging than going through nuke school. Here are five reasons you may be surprised how different your college experience may be from your time as a nuke once you enroll for classes.

1) There are no military requirements such as inspections with the exception of a ROTC program.

2) No one is going to make you sign a book documenting how many hours you study every week.

3) Nuke school has been mentioned as compressing the knowledge covered in four years of college into 18 months. Now that you are enrolled in a university you can take as much time as needed to complete your coursework.

4) The GI bill will pay for a lot of college, in many cases, no loans will be required.

5) In college you will be studying something you are interested since you are footing the bill. We all remember some topics you never understood why the navy was teaching you but the nuke curriculum is not about what you wanted to learn since they are paying you. Now in college the selection of topic is yours.

The path is clear. Get your degree finished and enjoy the ride while you are attending classes in what interests you. Your country appreciate you honorable service and you certainly have earned the right.

Hey Shipwreck, on some days it WILL suck to be you

noreply@blogger.com (Ex Navy Nuke.com Blog) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 05:41:00 +0000

Submarine moored

In any job there are good days and awful days. From my experience as a nuke on many occasions the bad days were highlighted with moments which sucked at the time but were quite humorous upon recollection later. Throughout my sea-tour miserable days came in various flavors. When you were non-qualified the problems resulted from being unable to stand watch. Later once your qualification had been completed the long days were caused from engineering department issues. Then on other occasions your forward brethren wound up being the cause of your headaches.

One of the favorite horror stories as a nuke occurred on a day after duty which included the Mid-watch SRO. After I had been cut loose by my chief I made by made my way up the hatch. At the time, the submarine happened to be moored outboard of another boat so you had to go across the other brow before going ashore. I had bought a bike to get to and from the boat from my barracks room. In accordance to base regulations in order to ride on base all personnel needed to wear helmet. So I decided to get a head start by putting on my bike helmet before I traversed the brow. The only problem included the fact I still needed to salute the ensign as I went over. As I threw up my hand salute up the COB of the other boat runs across the brow and begins screaming about me for saluting with a bike helmet on. (For the record I had my command cap under the helmet) He “recommended” I go back across “his brow” and return and salute like a “friggin’ squared away sailor”. The topside sentry who witnessed this scene play out had the sorriest look in his eye as I strolled made my way a second time. All of the guys on his boat knew what a prick this guy was and felt sorry someone from another boat had to experience his wrath. Once I saluted the flag I went ashore, put on my bike helmet and rode back to the barracks.

Once I returned to my barracks room I went to the calendar the I kept on my desk which I used to mark off the last few days in the Navy after which no more idiots could scream at me for anything. Thus another fine Navy day became history and, more importantly, I was now one day closer to EAOS.

What will you life as a nuke be like?

noreply@blogger.com (Ex Navy Nuke.com Blog) — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 17:15:00 +0000

To become a nuke or not , that is the question at hand...

The basis for this posting was a summary of a question posted on forum which was stated as follows: “If you've gone through the nuclear pipeline, please tell me what being a nuke was like for you and what I should expect. What's the work like? How readily do the job skills taught relate to private sector work, both in and out of the nuclear industry? Essentially, I'm looking for the things I can't learn from the recruiters or the Internet?”

My take is after reading what is available on the Internet is most of the information is 90% correct while, in the recruiters, case 90% of what they say is crap.

Here my tidbits on what you can look forward to 1) Count on long hours during your journey through the pipeline but the effort will be worth the trouble down the road. Think long-term. 2) There will be lousy and stressful times after which you may want to go to your command doc and get a psych discharge out. The feeling will pass 3) If a military career is not your choice then get out with your first rate training and use your GI bill to prepare for your future as a civilian. 4) if you wash out before you get to a boat as a nuke your life is not over, many “nuke wastes” forged successful futures, but remember you have joined the navy so if the nuke program does not work you will still need to finish the time you signed up for 5) after your service you will become part of very select club, and after you last duty day this is not a bad thing. 6) The life as nuke and navy life are not one that the same. 7) The nuclear industry was making a comeback before Japanese tsunami, and might prosper down the road; a prepared person may be one who is nuclear trained.

In conclusion, before making your decision about becoming a nuke make certain you understand fully what you are signing up since once you sign there is no going back.

You dammed nukes are strange

noreply@blogger.com (Ex Navy Nuke.com Blog) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 17:58:00 +0000

image of odd looking sailor

I do not need to tell anyone reading this posting that used to be nukes attending nuke school and completing at least one tour of duty at sea can change a person forever.

Many guys before they become nukes are bright, part of the reason they were able to do well enough on their ASVAB to qualify to go nuke but happened to be bit unfocused and unmotivated which resulted life results, in a lot of ways, below their true ability. Later in life many seemed to get things going in the right direction and amounted to productive lives either after doing a tour and returning to the civilian sector. Perhaps the required mandatory”tac” hours during nuclear power school provided some benefit. O.K., I would not go that far but I will l say the structure has aided in creating many successful ex-nukes.

More specifically, I have picked up subtle habits from my time as a nuke I still do to this day. For example, I still fold my skivvies; I mean underwear, in the same fashion I learned in boot camp. Why you ask? Honestly, I never had the motivation to come up with a better way of doing it.

Another skill I acquired which is a bit more useful than folding underwear is the ability to be able to look through large documents like reactor plant manuals and find the one paragraph or sentence of valuable information within a very short amount of time.

Another habit a number of my shipmates picked up was smoking cigarettes and chewing dip. In the long term the detrimental health effects cannot be questioned but after the first few weeks of a long deployment at sea who wouldn’t need a little bit of nicotine to help get them through. Now if they could quit.

Are there any strange habits you picked up from your time as a nuke?

Why is it so quiet topside?

noreply@blogger.com (Ex Navy Nuke.com Blog) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 04:55:00 +0000

Image of Alaska Shoreline

I recall an instance before my first Westpac while I cranked, as almost every did before he qualified any watch stations and made some use of himself. A few days after throwing off the mooring lines off in Pearl Harbor we pulled into Ketchikan, Alaska to pick up supplies if I remember correctly.

Once we moored a few of the guys went up topside to take a glance at our surroundings and for some unexplained reason no one said a word once they climbed up the hatch and walked around.

Normally when we pulled into port after being underway everyone is hooting and hollering in excitement to get a bit of fresh air which most people take for granted. I finally went up topside in my tee shirt in the 50 degree weather and see for myself.

After gathering my thoughts for a minute I tool notes of the fact I have never seen anything so awe inspiringly beautiful in my entire life - the water was clear enough so the reflection of the boat looked as clear as a mirror. Additionally, tall pine trees covered the whole valley even down to the water’s edge which were complemented by snow capped mountains in the background.

As everyone took in the scenery no one said a word, there was no need to. If someone had I am sure it would not have adequate described our thoughts on what we were observing.

This came as a surprise to you as most military guys are not what you would characterize as "tree huggers" but maybe one shouldn't need to be, we are human after all with some appreciation of nature. Later the boat pulled in British Columbia noted the provinces license plate which stated "Beautiful British Columbia". The beautiful backdrop we viewed in Alaska characterized the type of scene which spawned the slogan, granted we had left Alaska and went to Canada but this was close enough to get the idea.

Any moments in your time as a nuke which impressed you in a way you might not feel comfortable sharing with your buddies on the mid-watch for fear of ridicule? Let's hear your story and you do not need to leave your name...

What do you want the chemistry to be?

noreply@blogger.com (Ex Navy Nuke.com Blog) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 03:36:00 +0000

Image on Chemical mixing paddle

I was standing Reactor Operator and the watch section ELT came into maneuvering with the latest steam generator results. The EOOW asked, "What does the chemistry look like" to which the ELT replied, "What do you want the numbers to be?"

Looking in back in retrospect my thought is, "Why did it need to anything at all?" If the government can design a nuclear reactor and primary coolant system to live through the 30 year life of a submarine why couldn’t a steam generator be designed which didn't need to be baby-sat while steaming?

I am sure, in theory, the possibility exists, in the same way you could believe your experience in A school and Power School would be reflection of what your life was going to be like once you arrived on your boat as a nub.

The sad fact is water which goes into a steam generator which eventually becomes steam which propels the boat and provides electricity contains crap which over time can damage the S/G which would prevent a boat from going underway. As a sailor we would not want that would we?

In case you cared, water is the essential medium for steam generation and conditioning it properly can increase the efficiency of boiler and as well as extend its life. The treatment of boiler water also insures safe and reliable operation: without proper treatment, severe problems can develop, some so severe the Steam generator itself may need to be replaced.

Aboard ship, fresh water is obtained by distilling seawater in evaporators. The portion of the distillate which is set aside for use in the boilers is known as make-up feed-water. The water used within the boiler is called boiler water. Make-up feed-water should be pure distilled water in an ideal situation but as stated earlier it will contain some amount of foreign materials which includes Magnesium and Calcium.

Those of us who really dig this stuff remember the three types of water treatment in a boiler system: 1. Blowdown, which maintains the TDS (total dissolved solids) in the system (one of my favorite duties as a Reactor Technician) 2. External Treatment, which removes hard salts, minerals and oxygen before the water enters the boiler and 3 Internal Treatment, which maintains proper water chemistry by adding chemical additives to the boiler water. (Thanks to ELT's)

This knowledge is all wonderful after EAOS if you planned to work with generators/boilers as a civilian. I was surprised to learn long after I left the Nuclear Navy there are civilian boiler technicians who were involved many of same principles ELT worked.

Which leads me to the question: Any ex-ELT who has worked with steam generator/boiler after they got out? "What did they need their chemistry to be?"

Image courtesy of

http://www.americanchemical.net/updatestainlesssteelmixingpaddle-36.aspx

The meaning of Power in Nuclear Power

noreply@blogger.com (Ex Navy Nuke.com Blog) — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 05:26:00 +0000

Image of danger sign outside high power facility

Can you sketch the EPCP? Come on you remember; I’ll help you, draw a Turbine generator on port, now another turbine generator on starboard, a tie bus, and Motor Generator. Where do I draw the battery well?

Alright, I’ll stop the correct drawing of the EPCP is not really crucial. Here is what is important: the experience and knowledge you gain in power plants during your nuclear career can be useful in ways which might not be as obvious.

Let me put the idea this way, in the past ex nukes explored opportunities in Nuclear Power once they left the nuclear navy. Over the years after Chernobyl and Three Miles Island accidents and again recently in light of the Japanese Tsunami the nuclear segment have downplayed the possible careers in this field.

What about the power portion? The power portion will be alive and well due to the simple fact in order to maintain a modern society the power must stay on and trained technicians and engineers will be needed to order to make this a reality. That is where you the ex- nuke comes in.

Therefore, there are bound to be opportunities for those who enter the civilian world knowing how a high voltage power system works. Now there’s an efficient use of the time spent standing watch.

Women selected for submarine training – Should they get a boat with their own crew?

noreply@blogger.com (Ex Navy Nuke.com Blog) — Tue, 17 May 2011 20:13:00 +0000

Officer submarine candidate
training on a periscope

The excerpt from Al L. below was sent to ExNavyNuke.com to post and garner thoughts from the viewers of this blog.

Eight women selected for submarine training. ONLY of the officer class.

I am trying to get input from as many persons possible on this topic, an Idea of mine.

What is the feasibility of a nuclear sub crew, a sub say of the Virginia class, crewed solely by women, from the commander down to the lowest ranking "seaman"?

Obviously, any concerns about bunking, separate showers, toilets, etc., would no longer exist with an all-female crew.

And the women could do the job, this is do-able? Strength is not an issue, skill is the issue and women are more than competent enough.

The only strength issue might be re-loading the torpedo tubes, and for some time has been done by hoist and mechanical apparatus. Perhaps damage control in time of emergency might require strength?

Any other issues anyone can think of?

Al L.

ExNavyNuke.com thoughts: In my view I think it might work. During my time in boot camp at Orlando Training Center before it was closed down the “K” (all female) companies who went though basic training crushed all of the “C” (all male) and I (Integrated) companies they competed with in regards to inspections, academics, etc. I am sure this efficiency could be duplicated aboard a submarine.

Care to comment with your thoughts? If you want to learn more check out this video.

Photo courtesy of http://www.stripes.com

Drills for the worst case scenario

noreply@blogger.com (Ex Navy Nuke.com Blog) — Sun, 01 May 2011 16:54:00 +0000

Image of vest used for drill monitors

I recall from my time as nuke doing drills in preparation for Occupational Reactor Safety Exam. (ORSE) These drill sets by and large featured events on the reactor plant which would never happen in real life.

For example, given the design factor of all the materials designed into anything associated with nuke outside of getting hit with a Russian torpedo in the sea of Okhotsk what are the odds of flooding in engine room lower level (ERLL), Reactor Scram, and High Steam Generator chlorides all in the space of one hour.

Eventually after enough training, debriefs and, in some cases, critiques when one of these casualties occurs underway performing the initial and supplemental action seem pretty routine.

The reason I mention this is many people feel in the aftermath of the Japan disaster the country was unprepared. Recalling what transpired which included one of the strongest Earthquakes in recorded history, its ensuing tsunami, and lastly the trouble with their nuclear facilities to due to losing the ability to cool the reactor which resulted from the loss of power and infrastructure to operate the plant in a safe manner.

If the Japanese would have drilled against this doomsday scenario in a fashion to our nuclear training would it made a difference?? No one knows. My only wish is that we did not need to ask the question.

Photo courtesy of http://www.xtremebargins.net

Eli the Ice Man, glad I remembered you

noreply@blogger.com (Ex Navy Nuke.com Blog) — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 04:49:00 +0000

Image of a small inductor coil

One can never be sure of the moment where something you learned in nuke school pops into your head at the strangest time.

Most of us are aware much of the information covered in training will not be applicable after your nuke days are finished. There are exceptions, my moment occurred during a job interview where the interviewer asked me the difference between Kilowatts (KW) and Kilo Volts Amperes (KVA). By the way, if you wondering my interview was for a sales engineer position.

I remembered kilowatts were units of power which were equal the product of voltage and current. As for the question posed I knew the relation of KW and KVA had something to do with the lag of the current due to the inductive portion of the current.

Then the phrase, "Eli the Ice-man", came back to me in an instant which I had not thought about since I completed Nuclear Field “A” school over 15 years ago in Orlando, Florida.

With this I composed myself and explained how current lags voltage in an inductive circuit as a result of the time required to generate its magnetic field and how kilowatts expressed the power available to do work and KVA measured the induction component of the power.

The interviewer seemed impressed since I do not hold a B.S. in Electrical Engineering. I still do not understand why I was able to recall Eli during a pressured situation. I guess I should give props to the Navy’s training as painful as it could be at times. Have you ever had a moment like this as an Ex Nuke??

Electrical Operator, “Shift the electric plant to Normal Full Power Line Up”

noreply@blogger.com (Ex Navy Nuke.com Blog) — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 20:32:00 +0000

Image of a Syncroscope

For all of you electrical operators out there does this scenario sound familiar? You are in a half power lineup on the port turbine generator. The Starboard Turbine Generator (TG)is ready to go and you need to bring the TG on the bus restoring the plant to a NFPL and restore the ability the answer bells on both main engines. You know the drill.

What are the things which must occur before you shut a breaker? For starters the voltage and frequencies of the incoming load and the running bus must match and the synchroscope needs to rotating clockwise prior to shutting the breaker within the gray area at the 12 o clock position on the gauge. Do you remember why? In short, varying frequencies on the generator could speed up or slow down causing damage or excessive power transients. Likewise a variance in voltages can result in transients as well. Proper shutting of the breaker using the synchroscopes ensures the two buses are on phase in addition to ensure the incoming bus picks up the load.

In any case, normally plant shifts are uneventful. I recall I was on watch as RO and the EO Under Instruction, (UI) was doing a plant shift for qualification. The shift qualified Electric Operator, UI, and the Engineer Officer of the Watch (EOOW) talked through the plant shift prior to operating the plant. Finally, the EOOW gave the order to perform the shift.

In retrospect, I am not sure of the synchroscope’s position when the UI attempted to shut the breaker. Let’s say the position was nowhere close from the loud boom everyone heard. After I looked at my panel my pump configuration I lost a pump on each side i.e.1 Slow- 1 Slow. I had two pumps running on each side before the shift.

After the restoring the plant E Div ensured no damage had occurred to the breaker. On this day we were lucky, for those of you who might not have been so fortunate what was the craziest thing you have seen during a messed up plant shift and what happened afterwards?

Image courtesy of http://metersandinstruments.yokogawa-usa.com/product/analog-switchboard-instruments/ab40-synchroscope-switchboard-meters

A Look at the Cone

noreply@blogger.com (Ex Navy Nuke.com Blog) — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 17:09:00 +0000

Control Room

I was surfing Facebook pages one evening I noticed some photos posted by someone who used to be on my boat during a Westpac. One of the pictures was of a nuke I served with the caption, “pretty cool for a nuke”. This made me think back to my days as a nuke on submarine and my dealing with my non nuclear trained counterparts.

I know on a lot of boats the nuclear personal does not interact with “coners” especially after submarine qualifications are complete. Fortunately, our boat operated a little differently since we all got along pretty well. My roommate was a mess cook and we are still in touch to this day. A quick glance at Facebook revealed a lot of “coners” are connected as friends with ex nukes even though it had been almost a decade since we all lived and worked on the boat.

Numerous “coners” were nukes who did not make through the nuclear pipeline for one reason or another. But once you arrived at the boat “coners” enjoyed more liberty and, perhaps lived with lowered stress levels, less duty and working hours and still left with the same DD214 nukes received upon leaving the service.

For the record, I can agree with the cone on the fact some nukes can be difficult to work with. I have found lots of Nukes to be obnoxious and condescending. These flaws, in many instances, have made them unpopular on both sides of the engine room hatch.

We all serve same nation, enjoy equal veteran status, and would wind up on the identical eternal patrol if it came down to not coming home. The aft portion of the boat may push but the cone navigates, drives, and when necessary shoots, all which are needed in order for a submarine to complete its missions. In closing I would like to thank those “coners” who chose to judge nukes by the kind of people they are instead by their rating.

Considering going nuke and concerned about radiation? Relax.

noreply@blogger.com (Ex Navy Nuke.com Blog) — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 17:08:00 +0000

How much radiation should to expect to get?

One of the considerations I have heard about joining the Navy’s nuclear program is the quantity of radiation absorbed during your time in the propulsion plant.

The experts say you will take in more by the nature of the job description then the normal civilian. What is not as well known is the amount of energy you and I absorb living on the planet earth on a daily basis.

On average a person absorbs 360 millirem (mrem) of radiation every year. The exposure is broken down into human and background sources. Human generated emissions comprise x-rays, consumer products, for example televisions, older luminous dial watches and some smoke detectors. Industrial sources are counted as being generated by humans and include radiography which is used to test pipe welds. Background sources contain cosmic radiation, which comes from the sun and outer space, in the earth's crust, and finally, from the human body, for example, the natural radio-nuclides Potassium 40 present in human tissue.

The radiation from the earth in the ground comes from rocks, building materials and drinking water supplies. Radon gas is by far the largest health hazard. The gas is formed from the decay of natural uranium in soil.

During my time as a Reactor Operator the ELT’s used Thermal luminescence dosimeters (TLD’s) to measure the rays absorbed by each nuke on a monthly basis. I do not have a recollection of my totals but I am sure it did not exceed 50 mrem a year for any of the years I was a Reactor Operator. And I was in Reactor Controls (RC) division who on occasion went into the reactor compartment after shutdowns to perform maintenance.

In summary, you will receive more exposure with respect to the mrems received from the environment. The incremental amount will be relatively small. I could make the argument if your orders wind up sending you to a submarine averaging 250 days of the year underway will reduce you exposure further. Do anyone worry about the radiation they pick up while going to the beach on a sunny day. Therefore, if you decide not to through the nuclear pipeline there are more valid reasons than concerns about exposure. Some of which will be covered in future posts.

Every Little Person Loves the Funny Navy

noreply@blogger.com (Ex Navy Nuke.com Blog) — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 17:55:00 +0000

Does anyone remember this moniker? Here is a clue, the moniker was introduced when we all attended Nuke school and the learned about the operation of a nuclear reactor during Reactor Principles. This led to the discussion of the sources of the thermal neutrons which allow nuclear plants to become critical and generate energy through the splitting of Uranium.

I’ll let the secret out, Ever Little Person Loved the Funny Navy stands the six factors of neutron multiplication. Do you remember what these are? For those of us who may not remember since it has been many years since nuke school the factors are:

1. The fast fission factor symbolized by the Greek symbol, e
2. The fast non-leakage probability which is symbolized by Lf
3. The resonance escape probability represented by p
4. The thermal non-leakage probability, Lt
5. The thermal utilization factor, f
6. The thermal fission factor or reproduction factor characterized by the letter n.

These six factors give the highlights of the numbers of neutrons available in a nuclear reactor.
To look at this from the vantage of a neutron the journey to causing fission event begins with a fast (with energy greater than thermal energies) neutron that has been generated by the fission of a uranium atom bombarded with a neutron. Either one of two things can occur; it can leak from out of the reactor or not. Neutrons which leak out are no good to us. Therefore the probability of neutrons which do not leak when while will be the neutrons which are still available to cause fissions. This is defined as Lf. From there these neutrons can do one of two things either slow to energies closer to the molecules around them or be absorbed. As our goal is to get thermal neutrons we are interested in the likelihood of neutrons that are not absorbed and are slowed to thermal energies. This is identified as p the resonance escape probability. Remember the fast neutrons which started this discussion? They can cause fission events as well. The odds of this occurrence are called e the probability of fission from fast neutrons. Returning back to our thermal electrons in the same fashion as the fast electrons they can leak from out of the reactor or not leak. Those which remain are known as Lt which is the probability of thermal neutrons not to leak, and thus be available to create fission events. At this point our thermal neutron can either be either absorbed in some materials or absorbed in our fuel. The likelihood the thermal neutron is absorbed in the fuel is referred to as f, the thermal utilization factor. Finally every neutron absorbed in the fuel does not necessarily cause a fission event. Therefore the probability of a neutron causing a fission event and is not captured once is absorbed by the fuel is defined as n.

With that said who cares? Of course, the nerdy nuke in everyone who has ever attended naval nuclear power school, some of which read this posting the very end…...

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My Recollections of Navy Prototype

noreply@blogger.com (Ex Navy Nuke.com Blog) — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 17:48:00 +0000

I remember being told the purpose of the six month prototype tour after graduating nuclear power school was to prepare you for qualifying on your boat upon your arrival. Not to discredit what anyone told me while I was a Nuke as the absolute truth but here is what I got out of my six months in Charleston.

1) What is like to stuck on a boat
I remember being on the boat for hours at a time. Yes, you lived in South Carolina and weren’t missing out on the best party scene but I am sure there were other activities that would have used my time more effectively. Looking back at the ORSE workups I went through once I got to my boat I should have a complained less. At least I didn’t need to clean after finishing drill sets with multiple fires drills with EAB’s in ERLL.

2) Midnight watches - sleep all day and still get no real rest
My time at NPTU marked the first time I had to work on the mid-watch. I would try all kinds of tricks in order to get a good night’s sleep, some included eating a solid meal prior to going to sleep, drinking heavy quantities alcohol, and partying all night in the days prior to my rotations. All told I never got any decent rest and was still brain dead during my shifts. Which didn’t make me popular with my C-DAD, Shane Rye what ever happened to you?

3) Practice at the game of qualifying
NPTU was where I received indoctrination to Qualification cards and playing to enough signatures to get to a board and enough knowledge to entertain some shot at passing. The reality is you would never know as much as the sea returnees therefore the trick was to optimize the mix of signature and knowledge all while avoiding extra military instruction (EMI). I get the fact the point was to become familiar with the reactor systems enough to go to our boats and qualify. I still would stand no patrol on a decommissioned 578 class boat operating a water brake into the Charleston River.

4) The true meaning of run time - on a watch I would do not duty on
Yes, my favorite run-time. This amounted to free abuse from the sea returnees, all in preparation of going to our sea commands as nubs. My recollections are summarized as such, Petty officer Green, tell me about this casualty on my propulsion plant. My thought to myself, ”No, you tell me”. Aren’t I the student after all? In the end I felt stupid with a bunch of look ups to hunt down about an engine room I would not stand a day of duty on in service of my country.

5) Get in trouble for a scram of a simulator
The time for drills has come again. This time we enter the simulator which is not unlike the maneuvering area on a submarine. At least their gauges are monitoring a propulsion plant. I sit as the RO with my C-Dad wondering what the hell is wrong with me as my gauges go up and down and why I have no real clue as to what these indications all mean. Damn, did I exceed my power limit during that pump shift? I guess my rod bottom lights and decreasing power level into the intermediate range aren’t a faulty indication. What remedial punishment will they come up with for this screw-up? Can I still get my card signed? Can they simulate the board which I will need to pass to get to my sea command??

Please bear in mind these are my experiences and everyone many be different. However if you are looking for more information on Prototype? Here is a Squidoo lens which covers the topic of Prototype very nicely.

http://www.squidoo.com/prototypeschool

If you can relate to what you read and wanted to sound off please do not hesitate to comment. Please make sure to follow us on Twitter @Ex_Navy_Nuke

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Ex Navy Nuke Gear for you to wear

noreply@blogger.com (Ex Navy Nuke.com Blog) — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 18:49:00 +0000

The day after standing the SRO mid-watch is not the time to think about wearing nuclear related clothing to show off to the outside world. I am sure we all remember days where you barely wanted to wear your issued dungaree uniform.

What about those dungarees? These were the official, work uniform of the Navy blue-shirt which, interestingly enough could not be worn off base other than to drive to base to and from duty/work.

After your time if obligated service is complete on a few occasions you might want to show your pride of being a Nuke after your tour is complete and you can live like a regular human being. Once you stopped participating field days and going through ORSE workups you may take pride in being a nuke, being in the Navy and most importantly serving your country with distinction.

Before you never really been in a position to get the nuke related tee shirt other than the one you were issued during boot camp or purchased after the completion of A School. Not until now.

Think about the idea of wearing your Ex-Navy gear out in the civilian world knowing the folks you will encounter will have little clue of the places you have been, the things you’d seen, and the hardships endured during you time as a Nuke.

If you are interested in getting Navy nuke gear on a nostalgia basis check out this site where to get Navy Nuke gear and place your order. And tell them this blog sent you.

If you can relate to what you read and wanted to sound off please feel free to comment. Please make sure to follow us on Twitter @Ex_Navy_Nuke

Boot camp for a nuke

noreply@blogger.com (Ex Navy Nuke.com Blog) — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 02:45:00 +0000

I'm in boot camp now what have I done?

The transition into military life can be challenging for anyone. Boot camp is the place where through the physical and mental training you are transitioned from being a civilian into the member of the world finest Navy. The process can be especially challenging for someone recruited into the Navy to go nuke.

Numerous reasons exist including many nukes are not popular with their non nuke counterparts. Another reason was many nuke pre boot camp experience, gave them no heads up on the rigors of military life.

I recalled my time in basic training in Orlando from March to May 1994. Some companies who were loaded with recruits who had chosen to go nuke. Many of the company commanders, who for whatever reason had some bad experiences with nukes and seemed determined to pay these recruits, pay the price.

During my 8 weeks at Naval Training Center there were five major takeaways which I took away long after the completion of my time as a nuke. My first and most important one, involved learning of the E1 – E7 relationship. As E1 you didn’t speak advice or suggest, you followed instructions. Thanks goodness for advancement. The second thing emphasized the importance of finishing the job. I remember my getting a discipline in ranks (DIR) for a bunk inspection before I moved after trying to nudge my book back into its pocket before time was called. Of course, since my bunk was perfect the cycling which came later felt that much worse. The other insight I took away, after looking back, is the mental aspect to everything. I would have stressed a lot less had I been less afraid of everything in boot-camp. The process consisted of a game to get to the start of the rest of your Navy career. I guess its water under the bridge now. The final takeaway is even though I had designated going nuke why did I need to learn about putting out fires and tying knots? The answer seemed simple, I was in the Navy now like all of the other poor bastards who volunteered themselves.

Now with my lessons in hand all good things come, including boot camp, come to an end. And for us nukes the fun would be just beginning. The time for A school had arrived, at least now you get off base, albeit, on rare occasions.

Photo courtesy of http://thepowerof3.typepad.com/deborah/2010/06/index.html

If you can relate to what you read and wanted to sound off please feel free to comment. Please make sure to follow us on Twitter @Ex_Navy_Nuke

A Smaller Nuke Plant

noreply@blogger.com (Ex Navy Nuke.com Blog) — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 02:57:00 +0000

Any nuke that has completed a sea tour will be able to tell you a smaller sized nuclear power plant can supply more than enough power in a method which is clean in comparison to fossil fuel.
It seems the civilian community seems to be beginning to figure this out. The debate on whether increasing the 20% of our nation power needs nuclear power have been argued as an alternative from conventional source of power generation. To cause a significant impact this option would be MW sized power plant used to supply to regional power requirements. A typical reactor used in a commercial plant is typically rated for 1700 MW.

What is not as well known is the effect smaller size nuclear plants, like the one we operated, might provide. These smaller reactors range in between 30 to 300 Megawatts of output.
The main attraction for both electrical utilities and reactor builders is the potential cost savings: Producing electricity may possibly be 10–20% cheaper per kilowatt-hour than with a standard reactor.

In spite of this all is not clear to see a growth of small scale nukes. Unlike the navy in the civilian world there will still be regulatory, technical, and licensing hurdles. So to those of you who are thinking of dumping all of the knowledge assembled in two years of nuclear training and four years of standing watch in your boat.

Keep your eyes out for these three companies which manufacture and market modular nuclear reactors namely Westinghouse, NuScale Power, and Babcock and Wilcox Co. If you are getting ready to get out and are spooked at about continuing your nuclear career and hit these companies up for jobs. With your training and ability they would love to hear from you.

If you can relate to what you read and wanted to sound off please feel free to comment. Please make sure to follow us on Twitter @Ex_Navy_Nuke