Every Little Person Loves the Funny Navy

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…...

Image courtesy of http://www.jensen-graphics.com/Neutron.html

My Recollections of Navy Prototype

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

Image courtesy of http://www.cnrc.navy.mil/nucfield/today/prototype.htm