ツ Tools of the Trade…

ツ Tools of the Trade…

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When you are in a radioactive area in the hot zone, you must de-contaminate yourself.

I’ve witnessed several times a nuke worker moving from a crapped up (radioactive) area to the grey area to remove the duct taped respirator, gloves, and Tyvek body suit only to take a hot shower to rinse off rather than a tepid one.  Sounds innocuous enough, but a hot shower tends to dilate the pores in your skin where radioactive particles can hide.

If a radiation source was detected on you even after decontamination, they’d be sent back into the grey area for another shower, but this time with a wire brush.  The wire brush was used to scrape the radioactive particles out of their flesh.

Some of these guys would emerge from decontamination with pretty bloody self-inflicted wire brush scrubbing injuries.  They would brag about how much it didn’t hurt over a couple shots of Jack at the local dive showing off the scab(s) a week after the fact.  The sign of a true macho man!



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About the Author

I'm hooked on etymology, folklore, writing, live music, and making movies. I jam the axe and I'm currently learning how to beat the skins. I write cool software and meaningful screenplays. I like to drive fast with the top down in the rain with the music cranked. My tastes in TV, music, film, and literature are broad but obscure. I keep a journal, write screenplays, compose music, take many pictures, and create software. When camping at night, you can find me staring into the campfire either playing the guitar or telling a spooky story under the moonlight. I love thunder storms, Friday is my favorite day and my favorite number is 9.