ANTARCTIC NUCLEAR REACTOR AT McMURDO STATION 26042

This fascinating film was made by the U.S. Department of Energy, the Atomic Energy Commission and the U.S. Navy in 1962. In that year the U.S. Navy delivered a nuclear reactor to Antarctica to power the McMurdo Station. The plant, like the nearby Scott's Discovery Hut, was prefabricated in modules. Engineers designed the components to weigh no more than 30,000 pounds (13,608 kg) each and to measure no more than 8 ft 8 inches by 8 ft 8 inches by thirty feet. A single core no larger than an oil drum served as the heart of the nuclear reactor. These size and weight restrictions were intended to allow the reactor to be delivered in an LC-130 Hercules aircraft. However, the components were actually delivered by ship.

The reactor generated 1.8 MW of electrical power and reportedly replaced the need for 1,500 US gallons (5,700 L) of oil daily. Engineers applied the reactor's power, for instance, in producing steam for the salt water distillation plant. The reactor, designated PM-3A, was designed and built by the Martin Company. There were problems with the plant from the beginning. It underperformed to expectations and frequently fell victim to power failures. It also raised concerns in New Zealand, where U.S. Navy ships transporting the fuel and waste under Operation Deep Freeze would dock for a few days while in transit.

As a result of the multiple malfunctions of the PM-3A as well as it's clean up activities, there have been concerns that the health of personnel involved with the reactor may have been adversely affected. Although members of the Navy Nuclear Propulsion Unit were continuously monitored for radiation, many of the military support crew were not. As such, a study was undertaken by the Department of Defense to estimate an upper bound on radiation exposure for these individuals based on the worst cases of the available data from McMurdo. Levels of radioactivity in the water were monitored once the PM-3A was used in the production of drinking water. During the first few years of fresh water production (between 1967 and 1969) there were several instances of abnormally high amounts of tritium in the drinking water. In addition, there was a case of abnormally high amounts of long-lived beta activity in the drinking water in 1969.