US Navy Nuclear Power School graduates — enlisted Machinist’s Mates (MM), Electrician’s Mates (EM), and Electronic Technicians (ET) designated as nuclear-trained, along with nuclear-trained officers — operated and maintained the nuclear reactor plants aboard US Navy submarines and surface ships under the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program (NNPP) established by Admiral Hyman G. Rickover. Nuclear-trained personnel served in nuclear engineering billets aboard nuclear submarines (SSN, SSBN) and nuclear surface ships (CVN, CGN) throughout their careers.

Nuclear Plant Operations and Asbestos

Nuclear-trained personnel who served during the 1960s through the early 1980s encountered asbestos in nuclear propulsion plant steam systems:

  • Reactor steam system maintenance — nuclear-trained MMs performing maintenance on the primary and secondary steam system components of early nuclear reactor plants — including steam generators, main propulsion turbines, ship’s service turbine generators, and steam distribution piping — worked with asbestos-insulated steam system components in the plants that had not yet completed the asbestos phase-down in their construction specifications
  • Early nuclear carrier engineering — nuclear-trained MMs and EMs aboard USS Enterprise (CVN-65), USS Long Beach (CGN-9), USS Bainbridge (DLGN-25), and the early California and Virginia class nuclear cruisers maintained steam plant components with asbestos-containing insulation in the original construction of these vessels from the early 1960s through the 1970s
  • Nuclear submarine steam plants — nuclear-trained personnel aboard George Washington class, Ethan Allen class, Lafayette class, and early Permit class submarines maintained S5W and S5Wa reactor steam plants with asbestos-insulated steam piping and turbine lagging throughout the operational period before asbestos phase-down was complete

Prototype Training and Shore-Based Exposure

Nuclear power training at prototype facilities used operational reactor plants:

  • Prototype training — nuclear trainees completing hands-on training at the submarine and surface ship training prototypes (at Windsor, Connecticut; Arco, Idaho; and West Milton, New York) trained on operational reactor plants that may have included asbestos-containing steam plant components in the earlier prototype installations
  • Submarine school and nuclear schoolhouse — Nuclear Power School at Bainbridge, Maryland, and later at Goose Creek, South Carolina used classroom and laboratory facilities that may have incorporated asbestos-containing construction in WWII-era or older building stock

Post-Nuclear Service in Surface and Submarine Force

Nuclear-trained personnel who served in the 1970s-1980s accumulated the highest asbestos exposure from nuclear propulsion plant maintenance:

  • Personnel who completed nuclear power training and served aboard first-generation nuclear surface ships (Enterprise, Long Beach, Bainbridge, Truxtun) and early-generation nuclear submarines (George Washington, Ethan Allen, Lafayette, Permit classes) during the late 1960s and 1970s had the highest exposure profile among nuclear-trained Navy personnel
  • Nuclear-trained personnel who served exclusively on later nuclear vessels (Ohio class SSBNs commissioned 1981+, Los Angeles class SSNs commissioned mid-1980s+, and Nimitz class carriers commissioned 1975+) have lower asbestos exposure as those vessels were built to substantially asbestos-reduced specifications

VA Claims for Nuclear-Trained Navy Veterans

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure in nuclear propulsion plant engineering spaces aboard nuclear surface ships and submarines. Nuclear-trained MM, EM, and ET ratings who served in nuclear engineering billets aboard early nuclear vessels and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits.