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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| U.S. sub may have leaked radiation in Japan |
| 2008-08-03 |
| TOKYO: A U.S. nuclear-powered submarine may have leaked a small amount of radiation as it stopped by Japan in the spring and was then deployed throughout the Pacific Ocean, the Japanese government said Saturday. The Japanese government said that it was informed Friday by the U.S. Navy that the submarine, the USS Houston, may have discharged an amount of radiation that was too small to be considered harmful. The submarine spent a week in March in Sasebo, in western Japan, before cruising to Guam and then Hawaii, where the leak was discovered during an inspection late last month, the Japanese government said. The chief government spokesman, Nobutaka Machimura, said at a news conference that the radioactive amount - estimated at less than half a microcurie - was too insignificant to "affect the human body or the environment." |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #7 It's possible this was controlled pure water. Unless someone screwed up a tag out. |
| Posted by: penguin 2008-08-03 11:48 |
| #6 Japanese commercial reactors have leaked more... |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2008-08-03 10:24 |
| #5 "less than half a microcurie" Equivalent to less than one microgram of radium. A typical radium-dial watch (common until the late 1960's) might have contained approximately 0.1 microcuries, so that's less than ten watches worth. So this Japanese hysteria is pretty much nonsense. Now for the watch dial painters who were licking their brush tips to keep the points sharp, that's another story. |
| Posted by: Darrell 2008-08-03 10:13 |
| #4 Hell! Who hasn't leaked a little radiation while on shore leave in Japan! |
| Posted by: Lampedusa Glack5566 2008-08-03 09:11 |
| #3 Radiation too small to be considered harmful but just right for stirring up Godzilla! |
| Posted by: regular joe 2008-08-03 07:35 |
| #2 You know how you tell a Nuke worker in the bathroom? He's the guy who washes his hands first then pees. Health-Physics 101. |
| Posted by: Jack is Back! 2008-08-03 04:22 |
| #1 All nuclear reactors leak radiation. No shielding is perfect. OH, wait you mean the sub leaked radioactive material. That's different. That isn't supposed to happen. We nukes used to say "Radiation is to crud (radioactive material) as stink is to s#!t. You can't see the first but it's just as deadly." ;P |
| Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 2008-08-03 01:48 |