RTTUZYUW RHOIAAA0001 2641332-UUUU--RHSSSUU.
ZNR UUUUU
R 211328Z SEP 23 MID120000463751U
FM COMNAVSAFECOM NORFOLK VA
TO ALSAFE
BT
UNCLAS
ALSAFE 027/23
SECINFO/U/-//
MSGID/GENADMIN/COMNAVSAFECOM/20/SEP//
SUBJ/R290 REFRIGERANT ALERT//
REF/A/DESC:  DOC/NSTM 516
AMPN/REF A IS NSTM 516, REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS.//
POC/CWO4 ANGEL DE LA CRUZ/NAVSAFECOM/UNIT:  NORFOLK/
DSN 564-3520 X7063/TEL:  757-444-3520 X7063/
EMAIL:  ANGEL.A.DELACRUZCARABALLO.MIL@US.NAVY.MIL//
GENTEXT/REMARKS/1.  THE PURPOSE OF THIS MESSAGE IS TO ALERT
THE FLEET TO A RECENTLY ASSESSED HAZARD.  GALLEY AND
VENDING EQUIPMENT CHARGED WITH R290 PROPANE REFRIGERANT
IS BEING SUPPLIED TO NAVAL VESSELS.  THE BROADER INDUSTRY
FOR GALLEY REFRIGERATED SYSTEMS IS SHIFTING TO R290
WHICH HAS A SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER GLOBAL WARMING POTENTIAL
THAN OTHER REFRIGERANTS.  BEING A PROPANE, IT IS FLAMMABLE.
2.  IAW REF A, ONLY REFRIGERANTS CLASSIFIED AS A1 ARE
AUTHORIZED FOR USE ONBOARD NAVAL VESSELS.  R290 IS
CLASSIFIED AS A3 AND THUS NOT AUTHORIZED FOR USE ON SHIPS
OR SUBMARINES.
3.  NAVSEA TECHNICAL WARRANT HOLDER IS WORKING ON A FLEET
ADVISORY AS WELL AS REVIEWING REQUIREMENTS AND CONDITIONS
NECESSARY TO SUPPORT A DECISION CONSIDERING AUTHORIZING
R290 FOR SHIPBOARD USE.  UNTIL THAT RISK ASSESSMENT IS
COMPLETE, OR NAVY POLICY IS CHANGED, NAVSAFECOM
RECOMMENDS THAT TYCOMS CONDUCT A ONE TIME SURVEY OF
SUBORDINATE COMMANDS TO IDENTIFY FLEET EXPOSURE TO THIS
HAZARD.  R290 IS LIMITED TO MILK DISPENSERS, SODA VENDING
MACHINES AND OTHER SMALL SELF-CONTAINED REFRIGERANT
SYSTEMS.  EMPHASIS SHOULD BE GIVEN TO ENSURE LOCAL FIRE
EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAMS ARE AWARE OF THE ADDITIONAL
RISK POSED BY SMALL AMOUNTS (ROUGHLY 5 OUNCES PER SYSTEM)
OF PROPANE IN THESE SYSTEMS.//
BT
#0001
NNNN