Navy Confirms Sub Leaked Radiation While Docked In Saipan
(Saipan Tribune)
The U.S. Navy has informed Gov. Benigno R. Fitial that the nuclear-powered submarine USS Houston leaked small amounts of radioactive water while docked on Saipan for four days in December 2007, the Saipan Tribune reports.
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.
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.
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.
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