20 Questions for an NRC Nuclear Engineer who Responded to the Three Mile Island Crisis

Hello everyone! My grandfather, Ebe Chandler McCabe Jr. has an extensive background in naval service as well as service for the NRC. . .

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Image Source: Pixabay.com, License CC0 Public Domain

Hello everyone! My grandfather, Ebe Chandler McCabe Jr. has an extensive background in naval service as well as service for the NRC. Perhaps, one of his most notable contributions was his work in limiting the damage caused by the nuclear emergency at Three Mile Island which started on March 28th, 1979 in central Pennsylvania. For those of you who don't know, the Three Mile Island emergency started when the secondary non-nuclear system began to experience failures. This was followed by a relief valve in the primary system malfunctioning and becoming stuck open. This incident lead to the escape of nuclear reactor coolants, which lead to a reactor core meltdown and 1 billion dollars worth of cleanup. This incident became one of the most prominent nuclear crises in the United States and changed public perception of nuclear power (for better or for worse).

Mr. McCabe has also written two books. The first of which, "Celtic Warrior Descendants," discusses his ancestral background; the second of which, "Sea and Shore Stories," discusses his career as a naval officer and an NRC engineer, as well as his own personal views towards several pressing issues.

Last weekend, I stayed over for the weekend with him and decided to ask him 20 questions about his career as well as the crisis at Three Mile Island. Here are those 20 questions:

20 Questions

Navy (Background)

1.) What first inspired you to apply to go to school at the Naval Academy?

My father, as a boy, wanted to go to West Point, and continually extolled the virtues of the Military Academies to me.

2.) How would you describe their curriculum and expectations? (Does it differ from that of other colleges?)

In the sciences, I'm aware of no fundamental difference. But the curriculum, when I attended, was fixed, and the only degree awarded was a B.S. in Engineering. (There are now multiple majors.) And leadership training, discipline, loyalty, and personal responsibility were far more pervasive to all aspects of matriculation at Annapolis than what I saw at the University of Delaware during the year I spent as a student there - and from what I've perceived to be the case at other colleges. Moreover, partisan politics were not tolerated at Annapolis - apolitical service to the civilian government was rigorously stressed.

3.) What would you say was the most valuable lesson you learned at the Naval Academy?

That one's goals should exceed one's reach. (A classmate, now deceased, who became a Major General, told me that.) In other words:

"It is by no means enough that an officer of the Navy should be a capable mariner. He must be that, of course, but also a great deal more. He should be as well a gentleman of liberal education, refined manners, punctilious courtesy, and the nicest sense of personal honor.
He should be the soul of tact, patience, justice, firmness, kindness, and charity. No meritorious act of a subordinate should escape his attention or be left to pass without its reward, even if the reward is only a word of approval.
Conversely, he should not be blind to a single fault in any subordinate, though at the same time, he should be quick and unfailing to distinguish error from malice, thoughtlessness from incompetency, and well meant shortcomings from heedless or stupid blunder. In one word, every commander should keep constantly before him the great truth, that to be well obeyed, he must be perfectly esteemed."
--Compiled by Augustus C. Buell from letters written by John Paul Jones
I haven't (nor has anyone I know) achieved such a degree of perfection (in any field of endeavor). But though I don't recall the above being mentioned to me since graduation, and it was little mentioned at the Academy (but prominently displayed in one of the buildings - probably in the Seamanship and Navigation Department), it's an ideal worth striving for. And, substituting other occupations (e.g., astronaut, engineer, etc.) would result in an equally valid creed for organizational behavior in the discipline(s) involved. (And it's a very good standard to consider whenever one gets too full of his or her accomplishments.)

4.) How would you describe life as a commanding officer on a ship? What were your responsibilities? (Sorry for botching this question)

I was the Commanding Officer of two Naval Reserve units after my USN active service, but wasn't the Commanding Officer of a ship - though, as Acting Commanding Officer of a fleet ballistic missile submarine crew while the Captain was on leave during the between patrol training cycle, I had a taste of that experience.

Ship Captains (Commanding Officers) of yore literally had the power of life and death over crew members. And when I was on my first submarine duty, the Captain remarked about the changes that had occurred since Admiral Dewey fought a war with his entire operation order being: Proceed to the vicinity of Manilla Bay, Philippines, and protect American interests there. Exercise at Gunnery enroute. (The actual operation order was a few words longer and different - but carried the same message about the granting of operational discretion to field commanders - or ship's Captains.)

Today, modern communications and values have substantially reduce the powers of ship's Captains (and field commanders), but a Captain's role remains very prestigious and powerful. And classified submarine operations, though conducted under a huge amount of direction, are largely conducted without micromanagement from afar.

The Captain's role is to carry out the ship's mission - safely. The crew's role is to carry out the Captain's orders. Their careers, and promotions, are dependent on the Captain's assessments of their performance (a task delegated, in part, to the officers and petty officers who contribute their assessments of the crew members under them). And, because the Captain's ability to carry out his duties properly requires the full support of the crew, the crew's training, welfare, and morale also are among his primary responsibilities.

The standard of performance for a ship's Captain in the U.S. Navy is very high. An example of the consequence of error is that, if a ship runs aground or collides with another ship, the Captain is held responsible (even if he was asleep at the time) and can expect to never get another promotion or command. So being a ship's Captain typically involves long days and little sleep - with the physical aspect being as demanding as the requirement for professional competence.

5.) How did you decide to move to submarines?

I had been interested in submarines since I was a little boy playing with a model that was supposed to submerge and then surface itself in the bathtub. (It readily submerged but didn't surface.) And the USS Nautilus (SSN-571) had made submarining vastly more important. But the trigger for my submission of an application for submarine training was being the First Lieutenant on a destroyer that had anchored in Hampton Roads Harbor in Norfolk - because the high wind made trying to moor alongside the pier too risky. As I was standing on the foc'sle (forecastle) in charge of the Anchor Detail, a submarine took advantage of its minimal above-water area and the consequent relative invulnerability to being offset by the wind, scooted by our anchorage, went quickly up to its pier-side berth, moored, put its brow over, and the crew went on liberty. We moored several hours later, well after dark, and well after the lovely young lady I had a date with concluded that she had been stood up and never wanted to see or hear from me again. But it took two applications and another year of destroyer duty for me before I was ordered to submarine school.

6.) What were the differences in responsibilities as an officer on a ship vs a submarine?

The basic responsibilities were the same, but spread out among fewer officers (and crew). And the standard of performance and qualification was higher among submariners. (Submariner scuttlebutt was that submariners came from the top 10% of the Navy, but even if that wasn't an exaggeration, four-fifths of the top 10% of the Navy wasn't in submarines.)

7.) How would you describe riding in a submarine to someone who has never done it?

It's more confining than being aboard a surface ship. But the camaraderie is higher, the food is better, it's mostly "indoors" with a controlled climate, and getting sunburned is no worry. Also, after getting used to being submerged, it's a better life, albeit more dangerous.

8.) What would you consider to be your most significant career accomplishment?

Being the Executive Officer of a fleet Ballistic Missile submarine and responsible to the Captain for the training and performance of the ship's crew, and the performance of the ship's equipment (i.e., for correcting everything that went wrong) during the about one year of post-overhaul shakedown training operations (with a ship's grade of about 92.5) and two operational patrols - while developing and overseeing my successful program for achieving a major increase in the crew's advancement in rate (promotions).

NRC

1.) How did you come to decide to become an officer in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)?

After working for almost two years as a Nuclear Controls Engineering Section Manager for a subsidiary of a firm that designed commercial nuclear power plants, I saw that no more nuclear power plant orders were coming in. So I reluctantly started looking for other employment, and was interviewed and hired by the Director of the Region 1 Field Inspection and Enforcement Office of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). That part of the AEC became the NRC.

2.) What was your job as a nuclear engineer?

Initially, inspecting commercial nuclear power plants under construction for conformance to federal safety requirements, followed by inspecting plants during preoperational testing and power operation - and then as a Section Chief supervising region-based inspectors, and then resident (onsite) inspectors, and then Security Inspectors. I was also the Chief of the NRC Region 1 Field Inspection Office at Three Mile Island during the first few months of recovery from its nuclear accident.

3.) How long did you work at the NRC?

About 22 years

4.) Could you describe the crisis at Three Mile Island?

In a nutshell, superior safety design produced a complacency that led to overlooking/ignoring the significance of precursors to the loss of reactor coolant accident that produced a reactor core meltdown. That accident's hazard was overplayed and sensationalized by a media that lacked understanding of the safeguards against radiation injury to the public and plant workers. There were no radiation overdoses and no deaths resulted, but the accident cost a billion dollars and ended the operation of a valuable source of electricity. Subsequent improvements in operator training have produced a substantive additional barrier to recurrence, but public fear has not been allayed.

5.) How did you first learn about the crisis at Three-Mile Island?

I was sitting in my office in the NRC Region 1 offices, reviewing my section's inspection reports. My boss' secretary came in and said that there was a nuclear power plant emergency and I should go to the Emergency Response Center, where the Branch Chief and the Section Chief for the plant had been for several hours. I asked if they had called for me. She said no. I said that, if they need me, they will. About an hour later, they did - and I relieved the cognizant section chief, who was dispatched to the site. About suppertime, I was sent home to get a few hours sleep and return at midnight to man the Emergency Response Center overnight. In the morning, I briefed the Regional Office staff on the status of the accident, saying that the cause and extent of the problem was still undefined but I thought there had been a loss of coolant accident. Then I went home to grab a few hours sleep and was dispatched to the site, arriving late in the afternoon to relieve the cognizant section chief, who had gone sleepless and was exhausted. And I remained there, in charge of the Region 1 office onsite, for about three months.

6.) What were your responsibilities at Three-Mile Island?

Overseeing the Regional Office operational and radiation safety inspection of Three Mile Island, in support of the NRC Headquarters Onsite Response Office that was established a couple of days after the accident.

7.) What were your most prevalent fears during the event?

My fear was for public panic and the danger that entailed. I also knew that there was a potential for the core meltdown to cause a breach of the reactor vessel. But if it did, I also knew that the Containment Building had been designed and tested to prove that it could withstand and contain the worst case reactor accident - which this wasn't yet - and that this accident was going to cost a fortune but the conservative evacuation of the nearby populace by Governor Thornburgh had set the wheels in motion for further evacuations if that became necessary. But the reactor core temperature had stopped rising and was very, very slowly dropping, so the hazard was contained and lessening.

8.) How would you describe the work environment in a nuclear power plant? (I.E. Is it safer than most jobs or more dangerous than most?)

It's safer than most industrial environments - because the fear of radiation has resulted in more, and more stringently enforced, safeguards.

9.) How do you feel about stereotypes against nuclear power?

The public suffers primarily from fear of the unknown - and lacks knowledge of the difference between atomic bombs and nuclear power - the very great danger of the bomb being nonetheless overblown and the far lesser danger of nuclear power not being understood.

10.) What would you say was your greatest accomplishment during your time with the NRC?

Perhaps my stint at Three Mile Island, but others could have done that, so perhaps it was my simple, dogged effort to get the excessive legalese of inspection reports cast aside and replaced by prominently highlighting the safety aspects of inspection findings. It also may have been neither of those but the cumulative effect of constant emphasis on safety.

11.) Were you involved in any other potentially dangerous nuclear incidents?

NRC inspection is for violation of safety requirements and for identification of safety hazards and/or unsafe conditions. That makes NRC findings involve potentially dangerous conditions (as do automobile accidents). And, in addition to Three Mile Island, I was directly involved in many inspection findings that required corrective action, but none of those resulted in an immediate hazard to the public. (If they had, the NRC would have shut down the plant.)

12.) You lived near the Limerick (nuclear) power plant for many years. Did you have any fears living so close to a nuclear power plant?

None at all.

Sources

• Three Mile Island accident, Wikipedia

Mr. McCabe's Books

• Celtic Warrior Descendants: A Genetic and Cultural History of a Rural American Family
• Sea and Shore Stories, and the Nuclear Boogeyman

Closing

Thank you for reading this! This style of article is one that I have seen several authors utilize. I am thinking about doing other 20 questions with some of the other people I know. Also, a huge thank you to my grandfather for answering these questions! His answers were really interesting to read. I would highly recommend reading his books (listed and linked above) if you are interested in other interesting stories from his career as well as his heritage. Anyway, I will see you for the weekly7 on Sunday (I have to shift in preparation for the school year). Have a nice weekend!

Also remember to check for: My weekly 7 post, As well as my composer birthday posts (Note) In order to encourage meaningful feedback on the platform, I will check comment trails of users who leave superficial comments (ie "Awesome post," or "Upvoted.") and will mute any users who exhibit a pattern of leaving "spammy" comments.