U.S. Navy warns of possible radioactive leak from nuclear sub in Sasebo, Okinawa

Woops. That'll give the protesters some more ammo.

another military crime of the usa...why do they need these submarines.

A negligable quantity of radioactivity leaked from the sub due to a faulty coolent vavle.

Explain, if you would be so kind, how this constitutes a "military crime?"

Hey!! The US is admiting the problem. They are notn hiding it. Not blaming others, just being honest.

ExPrinceska- Either you are Japanese or a newbee. Whereb is the crime, and why do you think the US has submarines?

And this was a "Possible Leak" at that, nothing could have been said at all but the U.S. chose to admit that something could have happened.

"no abnormal increase in radioactivity in the area's waters"

Nothng to see here - move on!

Sarge- Way to go, and stright to the point.

Would other nations have admitted to a possible link? Tee Hee!

Moderator: We can do without the Tee Hee please.

The U.S. Navy has an excellent safety record, and those nukular subs help preserve our freedom.

"there is no way we can trust them"

Perhaps Mr. Goto can trust the Russkies then. No, wait, they're still occupying the Northern Territories!

I would still rather drink water from Sasebo bay after a US SSN has been there than go to the nearest Japanese nuclear power plant and take a sip.

At least the US govt let them know it happened. Also, the J gov does have boats that monitor the water from time to time, and if they did not notice anything wrong since March, I guess it was not that big of a deal.

The Japanese has to get use to this - a nuclear carrier task force involved in military action and hit will be leaking as it returns to base. Just pray when a nuclear vessel is hit and returns to port.

Odd that this type of info has been released: classified - and generally kept from the Japanese. US citizens are not told usually. Odd. Anyone know why it was declassified?

apecNetworks, my guess was that it was declassified once the Bureau of Naval Reactors has deemed that the amount of radiaton released was insignificant. They probably had it classified as "Secret: Releasable to Japan" before. What that means is that JMSDF personnel that monitor the visits of these types of vessels probably knew about it. Bottom line, someone in the J-gov gets these reports, and they do a good job at keeping it hiddent until the US goes and says that it can be released.

That is nothing out of the ordinary, that is normally how business goes with classified material.

Addendum:

My perspective is quite common w/ those in Asian Affairs and can be publicly researched, though highly specialized.

Actually, its not at all clear when the leakages started. The leak was only noticed after the sub reached Hawaii. There is no proof that it was leaking at all during the period it was in Japanese waters. It is merely a possibility. The leak could have easily began afterwards instead.

ExPrinceska at 03:46 PM JST - 2nd A another military crime of the usa...why do they need these submarines.

The minute the rest of the worlds navies get rid of their we will do the same. Promise, what my fingers are crossed? So how the heck did you see that? Was I on board a Submarine for too many year? Hmmm

Submarines are the best in dealing lots of damage for little price. Also we guys love them, they are so bloody cool!

"another military crime of the usa...why do they need these submarines."

This s not a crime. It is an accident. which was found and reported, with what we all transparency. I believe that accidents which have occured in some Japansee nuclear reactors have been handled with far less transparency. The nature, damage and scope of this accident appears to be very minimal to the point of being negligible. The submarines are needed as part of the overall defense and deterrence stragety which protects the United States and it's allies, which obviously includes Japan.

"Either you are Japanese or a newbee" In my experience, not all Japanese are anti-nuke or anti-US military. In fact I find that very few are. Even those who are anti-Nuke aren't necessarily anti-US military.

The word I noticed was negligible. As in, a negligible amount was possibly leaked. People are scared over nothing.

This is just another case of US transparency. God bless democracy.

Like clockwork this Goto fool opens his trap. The only issue he (and any other Japanese citizen) should have is with the Government of Japan and the Defense Ministry and why it took them over two weeks to go public with this information after they were notified by the US Navy.

USNinJapan2

The only issue he (and any other Japanese citizen) should have is with the Government of Japan and the Defense Ministry and why it took them over two weeks to go public with this information after they were notified by the US Navy.

That's wrong - Japan only just learned about it Friday, not 2 weeks ago.

Whoops, so much for those screaming about Japan's concerns about all things radioactive huh? Better make sure those subs and ships are all functioning properly, and manned by competent sailors, before casting judgement on legitimate concerns from Japanese citizens.

UnagiDon

You're right, the Japanese government found out on Saturday. They just never bothered to notify Sasebo and Okinawa about it through official channels. The two cities only learned about it through media reporting and had to call the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for verification.

What's inexcusable is that the Japanese media has reported that radioactive material was indeed leaked by the sub while in a Japanese port. The Japanese government constantly monitors radiation levels while an American nuclear-powered vessel is in one of its ports and absolutely no radiation was detected while the USS Houston was in Sasebo or Okinawa. The leakage was discovered in Hawaii. The only thing this indicates is that the leak most likely developed sometime after the Houston left Japan and before she reached Hawaii. The US Navy notified Japan because it couldn't positively rule out the possibility (however unlikely) that the leak may have already existed while the sub was in Japan. However that's not how the Japanese media is reporting it. They are saying that a leak did in fact occur in a Japanese port.

Very bad publicity. Wait for the local media to go all apesh1t over this; just like the recent beef scare in Korea.

USNinJapan

Given the increadibly small level of radiation, I doubt it would have been noticed at all. The only reason they found the leak in Hawaii is when a gallon of contaminated water splashed on a sailor's laeg (durin maintenance). The guy was in no danger due to the miniscule level or radiation.

The amount of radioactive subtance discharged was reported to be less than .5 microcurie. I am told that a barium meal that you get at the hospital is generally more than 1 microcurie, so this discharge is really next to nothing as far as the potential damage it could cause.

Can anyone tell me why the US is allowed to have military bases all over the world?

The future of defense, nuclear sub has radioctive leak. The areas around the sea of japan is point of defense between US allies and Russia/China allies. Just read(en.rian.ru) Russia tested ,one ballistic missile to hit the traget zone Kamchatka.

The areas around sea of japan need more peace joint friendship patrols by all rival parties of USA bloc and Russia Bloc.

The nuclear high danger triad of nuke subs,nuke ballistic missile, strategic nuke bomber aircrafts will be defense arsenals of Russia,China,Japan, South korea and USA.

Military bases of all sorts now on the rise in Russian allies nations and USA allies nations.

Hope no know cuban missile crisis ,(Defcon 1) Defense condition 1 like repeats in sea of japan.

We know everyone will know each other's name in heaven.

More efforts to be safer and wiser in sea of japan defense, needed by all parties of Asia pacific Apec nations.

Hope apec nations will return back to pre 2001 peace levels after 911 wars.

blaze524

Is that a rhetorical question or are you really that ignorant of world history and current events that you need to have it explained to you?

The US were up front about it because they knew that if it came out any other way they would lose all (of whatever is left) credibility re the deployment of the carrier that is on it’s way. Small price to pay to cover their backs.

"They had discovered the radiation leak weeks ago and did not inform the Japanese government immediately." "The U.S. Navy’s handling of the accident and lack of transparency showed there is no way we can trust them."

UnagiDon is correct. The Japanese Government found out Friday. It was THEY who sat on this information. It appears that this leak was minimal, so I would take a deep breath and let it go. I would be significantly more worried about radiation leaks from sub-standard Japanese administered power plants badly constructed on active seismic faults. Beacuse when it comes to not trusting people and a lack of transparency , THESE are the people who can't be trusted. Even the IAEA doesn't trust them! I sure don't!

It was a rhetorical question.

What I think is funny is anyone in Japan getting upset about a

possible> leak of a minuscule amount versus the large, deadly leaks that have been found and reported at Japanese nuke plants. Hmmm, can't have it both ways.

And as the real story goes, it's not even confirmed that anything leaked in Japan. Aww, hell. Lets just get rid of the US military and an automatic peace / tranquility will shower the earth (very heavy sarcasm here)

Addiu

blaze524:

" It was a rhetorical question. "

Trying to save face, are we.

WilliB

Trying to save face? No, my friend!!!

Again.....why does the US have so many military bases around the world. Rhetoric or not. Please answer the question!!!

Moderator: This question is not relevant to this particular story. Please stay on topic.

According to Russian news, there is increased radioactivity in the Pacific ocean due to accident of American submarine. Russian news agency says there was a fire on the american submarine which led to leak of radioctive substances. Americans admitted to the leak after high radioation was measured.

So far for the freedom of information in Japan...

ExPrinceska

Which Russian news agency? Do you have a link to the story? Which US submarine? When and where? If you're going to post such inflammatory accusations you could at least post some links or direct evidence to support your claims. Of course I'm not holding my breath...

http://www.izvestia.ru/news/news184603

Well, if Izvestia says it's true, it must be true!

WillB: Think about this for one second: if it wasn't a rhetorical question, would I really want to go on the JT forums to ask the readers for information? Wouldn't I say, Google it myself? Would I not go to the official sources?

Also, you haven't answered my question. I'm seeking a justification for the US's placement of military bases all over the world. The US has what - 700 to 1000 bases in over 150 countries. Why?

ExPrinceska

Thanks for the link to the Russian news article IN RUSSIAN. That really helps...

ExPrinceska According to Russian news, there is increased radioactivity in the Pacific ocean due to accident of American submarine.

Let me give ya a few facts on the safety of US Submarines compared to the Soviet....errr forgive me made an error......Russian Submarine farce.

The US Navy has lost a total of 2 Nuclear Powered Submarines due to accidents or otherwise both in the 1960`s. Thresher and the Scorpion both lost in the 1960s.

While the Soviet/Russian Navies have lost a total of 6 Nuclear powered Subs last one was in 2003. Please bear in mind that this is only counting Nuke subs and not Conventional.

Under the term Nuclear Submarine accidents the US has a much better safety record than most of our enemies.....errr there I did it again. What I ment to say was that the US Submarine force has a much better record than most if not all of the other countries who has Nuke powered subs. We have not had any major accidents.

For the Soviets or Russians major accidents were an every day affair. If you want to know most Russian Sub sailors shave their hair off while on patrol. The reason they shave is not to look cool or stay cool. It is so when the Rads hit dangerous levels and hair starts falling off the average sailor wont have to worry.

We in the US Submarine force were/are better and we have a thing called QA, quality assurance. Which the Soviets and the Russians didnt/dont have.

I find it funny the the Soviets new agency is claiming that we are unsafe. Opps did I say Soviet, I ment Russian.....The Russian Navy is a joke and the only ones that dont know it are the folks who listen to their propaganda.

Industrial accidents happen and at least the US military reports them. There may be a lot of other incidents that don't ever get reported. Their reporting of problems are not immediate or as transparent as say the public would like; partly because of the classified nature of operating procedures and equipment used in the military. But I dare say it is far better than any private corporation or any other foreign government in reporting problems or accidents. If anything the private sector far less transparent or upfront about mishaps than the US military. Especially here in Japan, which has a tendency to cover up mishaps until they can't anymore. Look at the Snow Brand foods fiasco, or worse the town of Minamata cases of mercury poisoning. What it that took some 10 years from the discovery of the cause until the government admitted the source was from Chisso. (We are still learning of extent of the cover up 40 years after the fact).

Considering how minor the amount was leaked it is amazing this made the paper at all.

Sarge said best "Nothing to see here...Move along!"