One more Rickover story and then I gotta go. When I was on the Enterprise
he came on board for sea trials. He came down to my plant (three plant, for
anyone that cares--we had eight reactors and four plants) and refused to
take a film badge and dosimeter (it was before we had
TLDs--thermoluminescent dosimeters). The powers-that-be had a lieutenant
running around behind him holding a film badge over his head, cause they
didn't dare stop him, but couldn't let him walk around unmonitored. I
started laughing when I saw it and couldn't stop. One of my earliest Clems
(CLM=Career Limiting Move).
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-fot@autox.team.net
To: dave@microworks.net; fot@autox.team.net
Sent: 2/23/2004 8:05 PM
Subject: Re: Nomination
In a message dated 2/23/04 6:22:36 PM Pacific Standard Time,
dave@microworks.net writes:
<< now double dips doing work for the Marines at Pendleton) has a great
Rickover story that he
>loves to tell. >>
Rickover would make trips to the experimental Shippingport Atomic Power
Station in the 60s. At that time, I was working the midnight to noon
shift as
materials expediter. Duquesne Light Company refueled the reactor at
that time.
They didn't have Westinghouse or other contractors come in to do it,
though
they had some advisors on shift.
His visits were like the Coming of the Messiah. It was my duty to make
the
entire reactor building look neat and orderly. During refuelings, this
building looked like a bomb had dropped. You couldn't just throw
contaminated drums
and other stuff outside. He showed up three times during during my
stay.
Later, Rickover pulled the AEC funds away from the project, and Duquesne
Light lost its farm club. I ended up in a dirty, dusty, smoky coal
plant built in
the 20s, while many others ended up on the street.
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