Photo By Troy Miller | Norfolk Naval Shipyard Mid-Atlantic Regional Test Laboratory Nuclear...... read more read more
Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) is comprised of many departments and several divisions all referred to as codes. Each code has its own role to play to support NNSY’s mission of repairing, modernizing and inactivating the Navy’s warships and training platforms. Through the text and photos of this article, you will gain access to see how NNSY’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Test Laboratory (Code 134) of the Quality Assurance Department (Code 130) supports the shipyard’s mission.
“Code 134 is responsible for all the analytical and mechanical testing that NNSY needs to ensure the safety of shipyard employees, Sailors, outside communities and the environment,” said Mid-Atlantic Regional Test Laboratory Director Rick McGiff. “We have 39 employees that are either chemists, material engineers, physical science technicians or engineering technicians.”
The test laboratory has 83 accredited methods across four scopes of accreditation. Some of the tests Code 134 conducts include, but are not limited to, performing toxic metal tests on paint; asbestos identification and quantification; environmental testing according to local, state and federal government regulations and discharge permits; oils and liquid gasses testing; and detrimental material testing to mitigate any harmful effects of materials on ship components, for shipyard employees and Sailors.
“Code 134 performs various analyses that support the work being conducted on the submarines and aircraft carriers at the shipyard,” said USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Project Superintendent Cmdr. Jason Downs. “These analyses allow our workforce to recognize the hazardous constituents in the items they are working, ensuring the appropriate safety precautions are understood.”
Downs continued, “Additionally, the water, fuel and nitrogen sampling ensures the shipyard meets the ship’s system cleanliness and safety requirements. Without these critical analysis results, the projects would not be able to accomplish all types of work.”
Mid-Atlantic Regional Test Laboratory as a whole not only supports NNSY, but also supports and works with state and local agencies, as well as ships pierside and aircraft stationed at Naval Station Norfolk, Norfolk, Virginia; Nuclear Regional Maintenance Department (NRMD) Norfolk, Virginia; and the Naval Foundry and Propeller Center (NFPC), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
“Code 134 provides valuable onsite and remote support throughout the year,” said NFPC Materials Engineering Branch Head (Code 1430.2) Sarah Jordan. “NFPC would not be able to support casting Virginia and Columbia class components in the foundry without the assistance and quality expertise of Code 134.”
Proper guidance and policies are critical when it comes to performing numerous tasks at NNSY. Code 134 writes, reviews and updates policies regularly to ensure all safety and product requirements are met within acceptable guidelines.
“Shop 11F [Metal Forging Shop] only conducts forging and heat treatment jobs with written instruction from Code 134,” said Metal Forging Shop (Shop 11F) Metal Forger Work Leader Eric Slate. “At NNSY, all heat treatment schedules are generated by Code 134. They are the engineers who research material and component specifications and determine which forging and/or heat treatment operations are needed.”
Slate continued, “Code 134 governs our forging and heat treatment industrial process instruction, runs our hardness testing, chemical composition testing and destructive testing with test pieces from our heat treatment jobs. Code 134 is the go-to code whenever we have specific and/or complex questions about the materials we work with.”
Although most tests and analyses conducted at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Test Laboratory are common and routine, there are times when the tests and analyses requests can be challenging.
Code 134 supported the single media discharge maintenance for the S8G platform at the Kenneth A. Kesselring Site (KSO), West Milton, New York. Code 134 performed resin testing on-site at KSO to identify and confirm the type of resin before it was installed as well as test to confirm the resin’s ability to remove chloride ions once installed.
Rick McGiff added “This was a new charge for Code 134. There were a lot of questions we had to find out the answers to perform this particular task at a new location. Questions about equipment, materials, logistics, travel and point of contact. Working together with the folks at the Kesselring site and here at the shipyard, helped us come up with the answers we seek.”
The Mid-Atlantic Regional Test Laboratory will continue its role as part of the “Force behind the Fleet” and supporting the NAVSEA Line of Effort to generate readiness through data integration and real-time analysis to deliver decision-making advantages. Code 134 will use innovative technologies and predictive analytics to improve efficiencies, identify risks and opportunities, and forecast performance to ensure the U.S. Navy’s warships are ready when called upon to carry out the Navy’s mission.
| Date Taken: | 05.06.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 05.08.2025 10:32 |
| Story ID: | 497169 |
| Location: | PORTSMOUTH, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 28 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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