Jimmy Carter's grandson has shared that his grandfather is nearing the end of his days. President Carter made sure that we can rest in the shade of the trees he planted, and may he have rest eternal when it is his time.
Now there was a President who did what he could to leave this world better than the way he found it.
From the CBC: Did you know, In December 1952, an experimental nuclear reactor in Chalk River, Ont., about 180 kilometres northwest of Ottawa, "experienced mechanical problems and operator error that led to overheating fuel rods and significant damage to the NRX reactor core," it was the world's first nuclear reactor incident, but little else about what actually happened.
The partial meltdown at the facility brought explosions and it was flooded with hundreds of thousands of gallons of water, prompting the Canadian government to turn to its neighbour to the south for assistance.
Carter, a U.S. Navy lieutenant who was working on a nuclear submarine project in Schenectady, N.Y., at the time, was called upon to head north.
"We had the dubious distinction of having one of the first nuclear accidents. And the Americans, obviously, were very interested and … worried,"
Carter led a team of men on the mission, which required the reactor to be shut down, taken apart and replaced. An exact replica of the reactor was built at a playground nearby, with Carter and his troops practising taking it apart and putting it back together as quickly as possible.
When it came time to work on the actual reactor, the men worked in shifts of 90 seconds — the high radioactivity made anything longer extremely dangerous.
"By today's standards, there's no way that would have happened,"
"In [Carter's] case, at least, he was lowered into the building … with his wrench, and he had to run over to the reactor casing and he had one screw to turn. That was all the time he had. And then, boom, back up."
"He talks about [it] today. He had radioactive urine for many weeks afterwards. They were tested continuously," he said. "He was told it was likely that he would never have children." He has 4.
"Jimmy Carter was the president who saved the day when he was a younger man."
Episode 382, Wed, May 15, 2024, Here, We, GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
