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Comment by Mark on February 19, 2009 at 10:21pm

Cathy and Lyn,
I can recall at least one guy I knew who had an allergy problem along those lines. I also seem to recall that the medical folks were often successful in identifying and treating the allergy problem, but yes - in some cases, sailors do have to be removed from submarine duty. Cathy, I think you're taking about the carbon dioxide (CO2) scrubber equipment, which does use a chemical (might be considered classified so won't share, but thanks for the faith in me - lol) that is often a problem. Navy ships are basically a unique industrial environment, with all the machinery aboard, and since submarines have the added quality of a closed atmosphere, there can be sometimes issues like this. Submarines have all the gear aboard, including very sophisticated monitoring equipment, to ensure that the air is generally healthful, but allergies are another issue, obviously. Policy is to come to periscope depth at as regular intervals as possible to run the low-pressure blower, which can completely replace the atmosphere aboard in pretty short order, but often, because submarines generally must ensure they remain undetected, and both coming to periscope depth, and the noise produced by the LP blower raise the risk of detection, it isn't always possible. The stink Alex refers to is probably not the CO2 scrubber chemical, it's odor is very subtle, but more likely plain old diesel exhaust. Submarines each have a powerful diesel powered electrical generator as a backup source of power, should there be a problem with the reactor plant. The boat must be surfaced, or at a shallow enough depth to raise the snorkel mast to supply the tremendous amount of air to support combustion. The diesel has to be operated at periodic intervals to perform maintenance and ensure it is working properly. It exhausts overboard, not inhull, but, since air intake and diesel exhaust must be both atop the sail (used to be "conning tower" on non-nuc boats), some of the exhaust is inevitably drawn back into the boat, despite efforts to keep the boat operating in such a way, considering wind, and direction of travel, that exhaust intake is minimized. The stuff just permeates everything aboard, and while you get used to it while you are onboard, it's stank is unmistakable on your clothing when you get off the boat. It seems to be less intense aboard boats these days, it was a lot worse on boats twenty years ago, and was god-awful on the pre-nuclear power boats that operated on diesel engines.

Comment by LLovesmysailor on February 19, 2009 at 12:27pm

Cathy, There is some kind of chemical that is part of the air purification system. I'm sure Mark could tell us exactly what it is called. Alex always complains about what he call the "stink" that gets into his clothing. I do know that every time I get near his stuff, I get a violent headache. My husband says I should not tour the sub if they have just gotten back. Good luck to your son. I will keep him in my thoughts and prayers.

Comment by Mark on February 19, 2009 at 12:50am

Cheryl,
ELT is a tremendous opportunity, and is a very interesting add-on to the MM duties. They qualify all the watchstations that regular MMs do, plus they have a couple of added responsibilities. The main one, and the one they find to be the most fun is chemistry control for the water that cools the reactor and for the steam plant. It's detailed work requiring precision that is a lot of fun; it's sort of like having an industrial-sized chemistry set, and your job is to monitor and tweak the chemistry into set parameters that create the optimum environment for minimizing corrosion of plant materials. The chemistry analyses are also an indication of the "health" of the reactor components, so it is a critical job, under a lot of scrutiny, requiring absolute integrity. The other part is radiological controls; they do the surveys to ensure that radiation levels around the reactor shielding and from plant components are as expected so that the rest of the crew is able to minimize their radiation exposure. They also do the surveys to ensure that no radioactive contamination escapes from the plant piping. Most ELTs find the chemistry part of their job the most interesting, since (thankfully) the radiation and contamination surveys generally provide the same data repeatedly, namely no contamination, and radiation levels as expected. Since ELTs are the ones sampling the reactor cooling water (which does contain small amounts of radioactivity), they are the experts in handling contaminated items safely, ensuring that any contamination is contained. Because of the nature of their duties, ELTs are generally more familiar than the other MMs with the mechanical systems directly supporting the reactor. There are usually only five ELTs on a submarine crew, and because of their extra training, they receive the largest bonuses for re-enlistment and while all nucs are extremely employable after they finish their Navy time, ELTs probably have more employment opportunities than most. Congratulations to your son, Cheryl - he is clearly a "hot runner" to have received the opportunity.

Comment by Kaye S. on February 18, 2009 at 11:39pm

Alabama Blue is supposed to get leave starting in mid-March... I can't stand the wait! There are 9 of us moms around here waiting to hear, when the guys get back from sea. (Ack! So much cleaning and cooking to do!) ;-) k.

Comment by LLovesmysailor on February 18, 2009 at 12:24am

I've finally heard from my son. I haven't heard from him in about 5 weeks. He was on the pier so I didn't want to keep him standing in the cold for too long. He called to tell me that he will be moving off base and living in Mystic when he's not at sea. I'm hoping to hear from him more often now that he will be in a house. Looks like he won't be coming home until some time next fall.

Comment by Mark on February 15, 2009 at 10:36pm

thank you ladies... really :-) !

Comment by Kaye S. on February 15, 2009 at 9:23pm

I vote we bake Mark a casserole... all in favor? ;-) k.

Comment by Mark on February 15, 2009 at 7:19pm

Bottom line Amber is that as you said, they are taking it seriously, and thoroughly investigating. We are talking about them being ultra-conservative in controlling exposure. Not knowing the details myself, he should probably not have shared so much before the investigation is concluded - it's a delicate situation, and it's no wonder that you are concerned. Eventually, they will determine his exposure, and that information will be fully shared with him, and he can share that with you if he chooses. Other details concerning the investigation, you (and he) must be careful about. The nuclear Navy is open about the issue of radiation exposure (within medical regs concerning privacy) because it is in their interests to do so, but some details concerning operations get tangled in that bring up security issues. Don't post anything that you don't know is OK to put on a public forum (not that you have at this point). Ask him what is OK for you to know.

Comment by LLovesmysailor on February 15, 2009 at 3:01pm

Hi all, and Mark that was a great post. My husband was a Navy Nuc and is now a civilian Nuc. There is only one effect on children that I have noted over the years. That is that they are generally above average in intelligence and have a great sense of responsibility. But then again, that seems to run in Navy families in general. I've got one Nuc and one CTN.

Comment by Mark on February 15, 2009 at 1:38pm

That's interesting Amber - I should have sought more clarification before the long post. I'm glad he's talking to the doc - it sounds like he's had a questionable reading on his radiation dosimetry that is being investigated. They are read on a machine, and on rare occasions the unit will give a reading (usually attributed to machine operator error, not your son's) that makes no sense, given knowledge of where the person has spent his time, radiation surveys of the areas, and the readings on other people's dosimetry. They are no doubt doing a thorough investigation to find an explanation that squares with all the data. It really makes no sense that a single Fire Control Tech would have an unusually high reading on his dosimeter. As part of the investigation, they may have an extra dosimeter on him that can be read with equipment on board the boat. He must have misunderstood something if he thinks he may be "more sensitive", that's just not the case. Not knowing the facts (which he probably can't share in great detail) it's hard to say anything beyond that.

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