Ex Navy Nuke Gear for you to wear

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.

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Boot camp for a nuke

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

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A Smaller Nuke Plant

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.

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Three things in a seabag

Image of a seabag

It seems like yesterday when I finished packing my stuff for the final move to my new home once I left the Navy. Due to logistics I was able to take so many things off of the rock (a.k.a. Hawaii) on my move. I looked at all of my uniforms, clearly, I would not be standing duty anymore duty. I had never been so excited to throw so much stuff in the dumpster in the parking lot of my apartment complex.

In retrospect once I had settled in my post Navy job I made a mental note of three common items contained in the sea bag I wished I had kept for use once I left the Navy.
The first thing, as a submariner, I should have held onto was my poppie suit (submarine overalls). These are ideal for working under the hood of your car or working in the basement. Purchasing one for $20.00 bucks at your local Wal-Mart seems silly when the Navy had issued you one for nothing. All you had to do is take the insignia off and you were in business.
The second thing was the pea coat. For those of you living in colder climates this is the ideal outer garment. Think about the possibilities, if the pea coat could get you through a Great Lakes (Mistakes) boot camp during winter then it should enable you to survive any cold weather situation. Interesting enough a few civilian companies that manufacture these types of coats and which people buy retail.

The last thing is the sea bag itself. Your move once you get out of the navy will probably not be your last move. The durability of the coat to store unlimited junk makes this piece of Navy gear invaluable for carrying all of the odds and ends that are associates with any move.
I realize once you are with single digit days of the freedom you imagined once you checked into your boat and realized the last four years of your life were going to soon be a memory other pressing concerns to address. Yet still, perhaps this may be something you might want to think about.

Photo courtesy of http://shop.ebay.com

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Nuclear Careers

All things go in cycles.  In the past a plethora of jobs were available in the nuclear sector for Ex Navy Nukes after completing a tour as a nuke. Then the nuclear reactor plant accidents at Chernobyl and Three Mile Island occurred in the late 1970’s to mid- 1980’s.  Almost overnight the growth of nuclear power plants globally came to a screeching halt due to the negative media. Now 30 years later the globe has pretty much about forgotten these incidents.  Since the world is in urgent need of renewable energy sources the return of fission as an option for meeting our future power requirements seems possible. Without doubt odds are probable the nuclear field will be making a comeback.

Interesting enough this week the Obama administration a week ago announced plans in the form of loan guarantees to construct the building of first new nuclear plant in the United States in many years.

Who will be ready to man these new nuclear plants?  That’s right, all you guys who are nukes now and will be looking to leave boats with good jobs with strong futures.

The pay and benefits are is good.  Your talents will be needed as the Navy’s safety record with nuclear power is exemplary. Employers do not need to train you on qualifying at a nuclear power plant. You have been there and done that. Dwell on this, standing watch and getting paid a lot more money for your time, all while having the opportunity to enjoy a great quality of life.  Think about it.

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Photo courtesy of Freefoto.com

It has been has been a long time since I have stood Reactor Operator

A while back someone reached out to me out of the blue over the details of the RPCP. As it turned out a buddy of his and him were having a disccusion over the question since it had been nearly 20 years since either had performed a reactor shutdown.

At first, all I could recall was the shim switch. Then I remember the RCP pump switches. Later I remembered Tave, the NI's, the pressurizer swtiches, then the Reduced Frequency pumps meters.

I did not think it was that bad since it was more then 10 years since I stood Reactor Operator.If any of you old RO's out there want to give it a shot by all means have at it. It was pretty cool to go through the instrumentation on the panel especially no one was going to ask me my pump shift limit was.

For that reason I thought it would be a good idea to launch this blog in order to give all nukes past, present or future who were not damamged permanately mentality to contribute to particiapte in this blog.

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