Page 3/3 - Posted June 25, 2010
Lasting memoryThe plaque is currently sitting in a carpenter shop at McMurdo Station for the winter. It will be permanently installed on Observation Hill during the 2010-11 summer season. Ob Hill, which stands about 750 feet tall above McMurdo, is also the site of large wooden cross erected in memory of Capt. Robert F. Scott and the four members of his team who died in 1912 on the return trip from the South Pole. The plaque will occupy a small piece of real estate where the power plant once stood. Demolition is mostly complete on two obsolete buildings that once sat on the site, including an auxiliary building to the nuclear plant that was used as a cold storage warehouse after PM-3A was decommissioned. The other, an old water plant, had also been used for storage. George Blaisdell, Operations manager in the NSF OPP’s Antarctic Infrastructure and Logistics Division The U.S. Antarctic Program proposed adding the commemorative plaque to the List of Historic Sites and Monuments A duplicate aluminum plaque will eventually be donated to a new U.S. Navy Seabee He said the commemoration and recognition are important “because there were a lot of very dedicated men who gave a large portion of their military careers to developing and proving the feasibility of designing, constructing and operating small, portable nuclear power plants in hostile environments. “These were not just the average sailor, soldier or airman, but the very elite, who went through an intensive academic, specialty and operational training program to be able to operate these plants safely and successfully.” Fegley said the Navy veterans who once worked at the power plant expressed their excitement about the McMurdo dedication in e-mails. One, from NNPU Command Master Chief Herb Smith, who served two winters at PM-3A, wrote to Fegley: “Words cannot express my appreciation for your efforts, as well as the others that assisted, in getting the approval to have the historical plaque placed on Observation Hill. This is indeed a great tribute to all of the men that participated in the successful operation of the PM-3A.” Most people today don’t know the nuclear power plant ever existed, Herb Smith noted, adding, “Well, no longer will that be the case.” Sources for this story include www.southpolestation.com |