Lieutenant Jimmy Carter and the Chalk River Nuclear Accident

By Rear Admiral Sam Cox ’80, USN (Ret.), Director of Naval History and Heritage Command

Forced to come to the surface for air during a Pacific transit in January 1949, POMFRET was being tossed around in the night by a violent storm when newly reported Ensign Jimmy Carter ’47 was washed off the bridge by a huge wave.

Fortunately, he snagged on the 5-inch deck gun 30 feet aft of the conning tower and managed to hang on, avoiding being lost at sea. Harrowing as this was, the dangers of the sea were well-known. What was less well-known in the early 1950’s was the full extent of the danger posed by radiation, when Lieutenant Carter led a team in early 1953 to assist in the cleanup of the partial meltdown of the NRX reactor at Chalk River, Canada, the worst nuclear accident to that date.

After graduating from the Naval Academy in 1946 (with the wartime accelerated Class of 1947,) Carter served his obligatory two years aboard surface ships, before volunteering and being accepted for submarine service. He first served aboard POMFRET. In February 1951, he reported to the pre-commissioning crew of K-1, and became a “plank-owner” of the first U.S. submarine built since the end of World War II, qualifying for command of a submarine while still a lieutenant (junior grade.)

Upon learning of the Navy’s nascent nuclear power program, Carter immediately volunteered for what he considered, “the finest Navy billet available to an officer of my rank–the development of the first atomic submarines.” After the usual intimidating interview with then-Captain Rickover, Carter was accepted into the program.

In November 1952, Lieutenant Carter reported to the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) Division of Naval Reactors detachment at Schenectady, NY. In addition to his own training, while simultaneously training assigned enlisted personnel, he assisted with the General Electric prototype liquid-sodium cooled reactor being developed near the Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory (the type of reactor that would later power the second U.S. Navy nuclear submarine, SEAWOLF.

On 12 December 1952, the National Research Experimental (NRX) heavy-water moderated, light-water cooled reactor at the Canadian Chalk River Laboratories suffered a partial core meltdown due to a combination of human error, design flaws, and power surge. The accident resulted in the release of radiation into the air, as well as flooding the basement of the reactor building with over 1.2 million gallons of radioactive water. Fortunately, no one was killed as a result.

Considered at the time to be the most powerful research reactor in the world, the NRX commenced operation in 1947 and was the result of a joint Canadian, British, and U.S. cooperative program begun in World War II. The U.S. Navy was

involved in experiments at the reactor, which also produced nuclear fuel for U.S. Navy use.

Following the Chalk River accident, the U.S. Navy sent about 150 personnel (among several hundred Canadian military and government civilians) to assist in the clean-up. Because he had the requisite security clearance and experience, Lieutenant Carter volunteered for this mission. He was ordered to proceed from Schenectady to lead a team of 23 men in helping disassemble the damaged nuclear reactor core.

Once on site, Carter’s team trained intensively on an exact duplicate mock-up of the reactor that had been quickly built on a nearby tennis court, practicing each move. Due to the level of radiation, no single person could spend more than 90 seconds in the “hot zone.” Wearing protective clothing and respirators, Carter’s team descended into the radiation area in groups of three, working quickly to remove parts.

Observed by TV cameras, these actions were duplicated at the same time in the mock-up. Carter took his turn, and using a wrench removed a bolt. During these 90 seconds, Carter received a dose of a year’s worth of what was considered at the time to be the maximum safe level of radiation, but many times that is considered safe today. Neither he nor his team appeared to suffer any near-term debilitating effects, although they were carefully monitored by medical personnel for months.

The U.S. Navy came away from the Chalk River accident with extensive lessons learned to improve the design and safe operation of reactors aboard submarines, as well as the health of the crew manning them. The experience also proved very useful for President Carter, when he had to lead a national response to the partial meltdown of the Three Mile Island reactor in March 1979, the most significant nuclear accident in the U.S.