Now Navy Faces Nuke Cheating Scandal

Dozens of sailors have been accused of cheating on exams on a subject in which one would really hope they'd be expert: How to operate nuclear reactors. In the latest cheating scandal to hit the military, the chief of the Navy's nuclear propulsion program says at least 30 instructors at a South Carolina training facility are suspected of cheating on written exams that help them qualify to operate reactors, the AP reports. The South Carolina school is one of two Navy training facilities that use live, operational nuclear reactors.

A whistleblower exposed the alleged cheating, which is still being investigated by the Navy Criminal Investigative Service, the Navy Times reports. One sailor "was offered to comprise his integrity, recognized it was wrong, and reported it to the command," the chief of the nuclear program told a Pentagon press conference. He was there alongside the Navy's top officer, who expressed "disappointment," but declined to answer questions about whether there is something seriously amiss in the military, the New York Times reports. The Navy scandal comes just weeks after the Air Force had its own cheating scandal involving officers responsible for the country's nuclear arsenal. (More US military stories.)