Sub leaked radioactive water on Saipan

The U.S. Navy has informed Gov. Benigno R. Fitial this week that the nuclear-powered submarine USS Houston leaked small amounts of radioactive water while docked on Saipan for four days in December 2007.

The Navy initially said the sub was leaking since the beginning of 2008, but altered the timetable Thursday, saying it had been leaking for more than two years.

“[Fitial] was apprised of the situation,” Charles Reyes, press secretary for the Governor’s Office, said Thursday. “Of course we are concerned.”

The governor received a faxed report from the Navy, as well as a phone call from Rear Admiral William D. French, about the leak, Reyes said.

“We appreciate the military’s response and candor in contacting the Governor’s Office,” he added.

The Navy first notified Japan on Aug. 1 that the USS Houston had leaked water containing small amounts of radiation when it was docked in Sasebo and Okinawa in March and April. The problem was discovered on July 17, when the Los Angeles-based fast track sub was docked in Hawaii. About a gallon of water had spilled onto a crew member when a fitting came loose. The water had previously come in contact with the reactor, but no radioactivity was detected on the sailor. Water from a valve was slowly dripping from the submarine’s nuclear power plant, although the water did not make contact with the nuclear reactor.

The Navy recently released a chronology of the leak over the past two years. A total of less than 9.3 micro curies were leaked. Eight micro curies were released in Guam and .4 micro curies in Pearl Harbor, according to the Associated Press. A total of .605 micro curies was leaked at three ports in Japan. Small amounts of radiation were found in Singapore, Port Keland, Malaysia and Saipan.

The average amount of radioactivity in a smoke detector is about one micro curie, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

On Friday, Guam Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo, who requested a thorough review of the situation last week, said she would continue to ensure the safety of Guam residents and sailors.

“I have requested and will receive a more comprehensive briefing from the U.S. Department of Energy, which has shared oversight on the safe operation of the U.S. Navy’s nuclear propulsion program,” she said.

Bordallo said it is believed the small amount leaked did not harm the environment around Apra Harbor and did not pose a threat to Guam.

Reyes said the Governor’s Office would wait for more information about the leak before seeking any additional investigation.

“We want to find out more information, and to what extent there was environmental damage, if any,” he said.

Navy Commander Jeff Davis said the Houston is still in Hawaii being repaired and the reactor is turned off. Once the leak was discovered last month, the Navy provided detailed data to the Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory—a government facility—to determine exactly how much radiation had leaked over the two year time period, Davis said.

The amount is so small, he said, that the Navy terms it a “weepage” rather than a leak.

The radiation leak has caused a stir in Japan where the continued presence of the U.S. military and its nuclear vessels draw complaints from residents about crime, noise and pollution linked to some 50,000 American servicemen based in the country. The presence of nuclear submarines is particularly sensitive, given that Japan is the only country the U.S. ever used atomic bombs against in the closing days of World War II.

“If we add all radiation leaked at every Japanese port, it would be still smaller than the amount of naturally occurring radioactivity found inside home smoke detectors,” the Japanese foreign ministry said in a statement accompanying its release of the U.S. report. “Japan also has found no abnormality in its monitoring results during Houston’s port calls since June 2006.”

News of the incident also comes just weeks ahead of the arrival of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington to be based in Yokosuka, just south of Tokyo.

Davis said the problem would not affect the USS George Washington’s move.

“This goes to show the people of Japan and the government of Japan that they can be reassured that the United States Navy will be forthright in disclosing details about any inadvertent release of radioactivity, even when it is extremely small.”

The George Washington’s arrival, originally set for August under a Japan-U.S. security alliance, was delayed until late September because of a fire aboard the vessel in May, another incident that has caused safety concerns in Japan. [B][I](With AP)[/I][/B]