The Remediation Team (PM33) aboard aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) is a newly-formed temporary assignment for the ship's refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH), comprised of contamination technicians who specialize at surveying, storing and disposing of contaminated waste.

The team is tasked with evaluating the radiological status of ventilation and motor systems that may have been contaminated during the Fukushima nuclear incident in March 2011 while George Washington was docked for maintenance in Yokosuka, Japan.

"Anything that moves air on the ship, whether it's a motor, vent system, or anything that pushes air around, has the possibility of containing radiation or contamination," said Aviation Ordnanceman 2nd Class Charles Ripperger, one of three assistant leading petty officers. "It's our job, going into RCOH, to survey all of those areas on the ship."

Although it is not anticipated to find any high levels of contamination, the importance of the team's work cannot be ignored.

"We verify that components are safe for personnel to operate, clean or work on, and that there is no health risk to any personnel," said Lt. Christine Jackson, the team's division officer. "When we take our surveys, we are verifying that contamination levels are below their limits."

The technicians chosen for the project have backgrounds in maintenance, mechanical systems, and machinery to ease the process of learning how to do radiological surveys.

"It's a whole bunch of different departments involved, all the way from engineering to weapons," said Ripperger. "Everybody has been hand-picked by either Lt. Jackson or by their parent divisions. It's a 'mixed bucket' of different people. Everybody is from a different background. It's actually pretty impressive that, since this team has been started, everybody has learned to do stuff outside of their rate for RCOH. It's almost like learning an entirely new rate for these people."

To learn how to do the job, the Sailors attend a classroom-style training and hands-on practical assessments that last between two and seven days.

"The initial training is just to certify that the technicians are qualified to do the job," said Jackson. "The actual training to build up a level of proficiency takes weeks. It is a continuous process and we train on that a few times a week as a division or in small groups to build on that level of knowledge."

Each survey requires a Work Authorization Form (WAF) and a tag-out procedure. It also requires contact with the parent division that owns the space. It can take a few days to get that work package secured and ready for survey. The surveying process lasts approximately an hour, depending on how easy it is to access the space.

"I think it is important to communicate that anyone opening a ventilation system or working on any ventilation component or motor should be communicating with us prior to conducting that work to see if we need to be involved to see if there's any radiological surveys required," said Jackson.

The team uses calibrated radiacs to scan and survey the areas. They take multiple samples of the parts to get an accurate assessment.

The work list contains more than 1,000 items yet to be surveyed and is growing constantly due to the increase in production and repair work being done by contractors as the ship moves further into RCOH.

The Remediation Team verifies that there is no health risk for any personnel when operating, cleaning or working on any component. This means any contamination level is well within safe limits.

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