Rossen reported in late December, 2021 that there are many remarkable facets to the life of Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the United States, but the fact that he once had measurable levels of radioactive urine has to be near the top of the list. In 1952, Carter was in the Navy and had been trained [He holds a degree in Nuclear Physics at the Georgia Institute of Technology] and worked in the government's atomic energy program. As part of his duties, he was instructed to lower himself into a nuclear reactor in Chalk River, Ontario. The reactor, which had been damaged, needed to be cleaned up, and Carter was part of a team dispatched to get the job done.
While the perils of nuclear exposure were known at the time, the risk owing to the duration and amount of that exposure was still being studied. As a result, Carter got a dose that would be unimaginable today.
“We were fairly well instructed then on what nuclear power was, but for about six months after that I had radioactivity in my urine,” Carter told author Arthur Milnes in 2008. “They let us get probably a thousand times more radiation than they would now. It was in the early stages and they didn't know.”
The Chalk River power plant suffered a meltdown [although never reported as such] after a power surge, leaking radioactive water pooling in the basement. Carter led the team of Americans and Canadians to address the issue; they practiced on a tennis court, sprinting on and off to loosen bolts before exiting in a matter of seconds. The mission was successful and the plant was able to resume operations.
The experience was thought to have shaped Carter’s views on nuclear warfare while in office: His approach was a conservative one. He also made sure his vice president, Walter Mondale, was fully informed on nuclear protocols in case he had to relinquish his presidential duties. Aside from the radioactive urine, it’s not known whether Carter suffered any lasting effects from the exposure. But it doesn’t seem to have impacted his life span: At age 97, he’s been active with the housing development Habitat for Humanity, pausing only for pandemic-related concerns in 2020 and 2021.
[It should be noted here that this article is an example of how radiation is not as deadly as some anti-nuclear groups would have the reader believe. Duration of exposure is, of course, important, but Carter apparently carried "radioactive" urine around for some time, without ill effects. Other types of radiation exposure is when one undergoes a nuclear test of kidneys, when radioactive fluids are consumed for the test and then radiographic images are obtained of the body to investigate the condition of the kidneys, etc..
On one occasion, the editor underwent such a test and then monitored his radioactive contents by measuring at regular intervals with a scintilometer at two places, under an arm and in the crotch area. A clear decline curve was recorded that lasted about 6 hours after the test. So, some detectable radiation is not harmful, in reasonable dosage, as is indicated by Carter's experience and in the literature (more)]
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