Navy Probe Concludes Nuclear Submarine Crew Ignored Safety Procedures; 6 Punished

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2007/10/probe_submarine_procedures_ski.php

Probe: submarine procedures skipped
Navy Probe Concludes Submarine Crew Ignored Safety Procedures; 6 Punished

PAULINE JELINEK
AP News

Oct 22, 2007 08:41 EDT

Sailors on the submarine USS Hampton failed to do daily safety checks on the ship's nuclear reactor for a month and falsified records to cover up the omission, a preliminary Navy investigation shows.

The revelation is sure to raise new questions about the military's handling of the nation's nuclear assets following an Air Force incident in which a B-52 bomber was accidentally loaded with nuclear-tipped missiles and flown across the country without any one realizing it for more than a day.

In the case of the Hampton, officials discovered that sailors in Submarine Squadron 11 hadn't done the required analysis of the chemical and radiological properties of the submarine's reactor for more than a month, even though a daily check is required, said Lt. Cmdr. Ryan Perry, a Navy spokesman at the Pentagon.

Other members of the squadron discovered the lapse during a routine examination required as part of the redundancy built into the system so that problems are caught, he said. The examination was done as the submarine was nearing the end of a West Pacific deployment, which was completed Sept. 17.

Officials also discovered that logs had been filled out to make it appear that the daily checks of the reactor water had actually been done.

"Some of the Hampton's operations and records fell short of high Navy standards," Perry said.

"There never was any danger to the crew or the public," he said.

in Nuclear Physics.

Two years of Community College, and they put you in front of a nuclear reactor.

(That two years includes all those other elective courses you need to get an Associates Degree, btw... art, literature, word processing, nuclear physics...)

I have nothing against people with an Associates Degree.

But I think that people running nuclear reactors need to be a little more highly trained.

All officers have a Bachelor's degree, as do many of the enlisted men.

The training is rigorous and thorough and the Navy's nuclear operators are very well trained.

Every nuclear ship and submarine goes through a very intense evaluation program every year -- maintenance records, operating logs, condition of equipment...all get examined. The nuclear operators are interviewed and take written tests to test their knowledge. Operational knowledge is tested through a series of casualty drills and observed plant operations. Believe me, it is a tough 4 or 5 days and everything is looked at.

I don't know where you got your information, but you have no idea what you are talking about.

Then again, these are the same guys who tried to "help" me fill-out my application. They asked me, what religion I was, and I said, "Jewish." So on my application, under religion, the recruitment officer wrote, "Jew's Churches."

That one moment, more than anything else, is why I didn't join the Navy.

I wasn't inspired with confidence.

Just because some idiots decide to blow off radiation surveys, that is no reason to condemn everyone else. Naval nuclear operators bust their asses -- believe me, I know. When it comes to operating the plant, they know their shit.

What did you do for the church of Hymie Rickover?

-MM3/SS

You're an MM3? Are you a nuc?

and unload nuclear missiles on B-52's have?