When you think of nuclear disaster you likely think of Chernobyl and Fukushima, the world’s two most famous accidents when it comes to radioactive waste.

In fact, as proponents of dark tourism will tell you, Chernobyl is still an extremely eerie place to visit, with Geiger counters responding even as we approach the fortieth anniversary of the disaster.

And when accidents happen, the message is clear: get away as far as you can, as fast as you can.

But this wasn’t always the case.

A close brush with nuclear disaster was a startling part of the backstories of a US President.

But this nuclear accident wasn’t Fukushima or Chernobyl; it was much closer to home.

December 12th, 1952 saw the biggest nuclear accident in Canadian history.

When an issue with coolant at Chalk River in Ontario, Canada, caused fuel rods to overheat, a partial meltdown of the NRX nuclear reactor was the result, causing hydrogen reactions to blow out part of the building.

In the aftermath, US Navy officers were asked to support the clean-up, with one very notable volunteer.

Cleaning up Chalk River was none other than US President Jimmy Carter.

Why was Carter involved?

He was among a small number of officers who had received training in radioactivity and nuclear power, thanks to the US Navy’s submarine nuclear propulsion systems he was working on.

So when knowledgeable people were required to help clean up the tonnes of radioactive water that had flooded the reactor and help make it fully operational again, Carter was front and center, as he described in an interview with CNN:

“It was a very exciting time for me when the Chalk River plant melted down. I was one of the few people in the world who had clearance to go into a nuclear power plant. There were 23 of us and I was in charge. I took my crew up there on the train.”

And the team’s support was vital; just over a year later, the reactor was safely running once again.

However, this was a different time; the protocols were not as tight as they are now, since our scientists’ understanding of the dangers of radioactive waste were less solid.

Thus, Carter completed tasks that would be unthinkable now, with lasting effects on his body, as he continued in the interview:

“We were fairly well instructed then on what nuclear power was, but for about six months after that I had radioactivity in my urine. 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.”

Alarmingly, Carter was lowered into the damaged nuclear reactor.

One can only imagine just how high a level of radioactivity he was exposed to during the clean-up.

Thankfully, Carter lived to tell the tale, with his long life ending at the age of 100, at the end of 2024.

If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read about why we should be worried about the leak in the bottom of the ocean.