Environment & Energy
In reply to the discussion: 51 Sailors from USS Ronald Reagan Suffering Thyroid Cancer, Leukemia, Brain Tumors After [View all]kristopher
(29,798 posts)When they entered the cloud they were unaware of it or they would have not been in it. Certainly they have the capability to operate in a contaminated environment, but there was no reason known to the Captain for those extremely cumbersome procedures to be in effect. That includes the "constant" overpressure.
As for the assertion about the amount of exposure, I don't place a great deal of faith in them being forthcoming about that in press releases. I've seen them spend hundreds of millions of dollars on unneeded radio encryption equipment to frustrate the media because of an incident involving a damaged nuclear equipped missile - and that had far fewer chances of negative blowback than admitting they had inadvertently exposed 3200 crew members to harmful levels of radioactive fallout.
Your trust is touching.
BUT - I'll admit you have a basis for an argument. I don't think a press release in this circumstance is much to challenge the effects the crew members are experiencing, but it is more than you had when you starting hurling accusations.