Kingston, Ont. historian reflects on Jimmy Carter and his heroics in eastern Ontario

As 98-year-old Jimmy Carter enters hospice care, many tributes and memories are pouring in for the former U.S. president, including for his role in help cleaning up a serious nuclear incident in eastern Ontario.

In 1952, a nuclear reactor at the Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories, roughly 175 km northwest of Ottawa, had just partially melted down.

Carter, then known as Lieutenant James Carter Jr. with the United States Navy, arrived with a team in the aftermath of the accident to help dismantle it.

Historian Arthur Milnes says that despite many unknowns, Carter led the team that consisted of both U.S. and Canadian members.

"Jimmy Carter would say he wasn’t brave, it was his duty."

Milnes says they spent weeks training in a replica reactor to brace being exposed to intense radiation.

"They would practice unscrewing a bolt, maybe two, because all they would be allowed is 90 seconds in the reactor room because of the radiation."

Milnes says it was among the first serious reactor accidents in the world.

"He went into reactor room wearing protective gear that is a joke today," he says. "And as we now know today, no exposure to that sort of radiation is safe."

In his biography, written in 1975, Carter says there were no long-term effects.

"There were no apparent aftereffects from this exposure – just a lot of doubtful jokes among ourselves about death versus sterility," Carter wrote.

Still, Milnes says radioactive waste would be found in Carter's urine tests for years afterwards.

Milnes says it also gave Carter "a certain respect for the dangers and the positives of nuclear power which carried through with him the rest of his career."

Milnes, who lives in Kingston, Ont., is also a friend of Carter's and wrote a book on the former president’s life titled “98 Reasons to Thank Jimmy Carter.”

Carter also stayed at Milnes' home during a trip to Kingston.

“He’s the most profoundly moral man I expect ever to meet in my life. He has a rock solid set of values,” he says of the former president.

Two trees, planted by the Carters, grow in Milnes' backyard.

As the 98-year-old receives hospice care, Milnes says he’s thankful for them.

“I feel so lucky and privileged to know him,” he says of Carter.