Go Navy! (nuclear)

Navy suspends most nuclear work at Norfolk

PORTSMOUTH, VA. — Two safety violations by civilian workers have prompted the Navy to suspend most nuclear work at Norfolk Naval Shipyard.

The suspension of work on Sept. 13 affects the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and the submarines USS Maryland and USS Albany, The Virginian-Pilot reported.

On two separate occasions in the past month, shipyard workers improperly handled equipment that had been used to work on nuclear reactors. The incidents violated the Navy's rules for the handling of potentially contaminated materials, shipyard spokesman Jeff Cunningham told the newspaper.

Shipyard officials paused all but the most critical nuclear operations to study the problem and to establish corrective actions, Cunningham said. He declined to say whether any workers had been disciplined.

"We work on small problems aggressively to prevent larger issues from ever developing," he said.

Cunningham said the problems "were minor and did not result in any impact to the safety of the public, the environment or employees."

It was not known when the work will be allowed to resume. Cunningham said it was not clear whether the suspension of work would influence when the three ships return to the fleet.

The Navy is swift to correct even minor breaches in nuclear safety protocol , said Chris Johnson, a spokesman for the Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, D.C., which is responsible for oversight of the Navy's four public shipyards. He told the newspaper that safety pauses are not unprecedented.

About 9,200 civilians and 500 sailors work at Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth. There also are hundreds of sailors who serve aboard ships that are undergoing maintenance there.