TOKYO, Aug. 2, 2008
Japan Warned Of Nuclear Leak From U.S. Sub
Navy Says "Negligible" Amount of Radioactive Water Spilled From USS Houston During Pacific Tour
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Photo
The nuclear-powered Los Angeles-class fast attack submarine USS Houston (SSN 713), shown in a 2004 file photo at Apra Harbor, Guam. (PH2 Nathanael T. Miller, U.S. Navy)
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The Navy said Friday it discovered the leak July 17 when a gallon of water spilled from a valve while the submarine was in dry dock for routine maintenance at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. An investigation showed water may have been slowly leaking from the valve since March as the Los Angeles-class submarine traveled around the Pacific.
The total amount of radioactivity released into the environment from the USS Houston at each stop was less than one half a microcurie, U.S. Pacific Fleet spokesman Capt. Scott Gureck said.
Gureck said that was a negligible amount, equivalent to the radioactivity of a 50-pound bag of fertilizer.
Akihiro Yoshida, a city official in Sasebo where the USS Houston made a port call in late March, said that government monitoring showed no abnormal increase of radioactivity in the area's waters during the submarine's calls.
"Still, we are rather concerned," Yoshida said.
Many people in Japan, the only country to have suffered atomic bombings, are sensitive about the military use of nuclear technology and the presence of American forces. The U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 killed at least 200,000 people.
News of the incident also comes just weeks ahead of the controversial arrival of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington to be based in Yokosuka, just south of Tokyo.
The carrier's arrival originally was set for August under a Japan-U.S. security alliance, but was delayed until late September because of a fire aboard the vessel in May. The George Washington is relieving the soon-to-be decommissioned USS Kitty Hawk and will be the first U.S. nuclear-powered ship to be stationed permanently in Japan.
The George Washington's deployment already has triggered protests, and the fire escalated concerns many Japanese have about nuclear power.
Masahiko Goto, a lawyer representing a citizens group opposing the George Washington's deployment, sharply criticized the U.S. Navy.
"They had discovered the radiation leak weeks ago and did not inform the Japanese government immediately," Goto said in a statement.
"The U.S. Navy's handling of the accident and lack of transparency showed there is no way we can trust them," he said.
The Navy said it didn't publicize the leak itself because the radioactivity released was below a level that would warrant a public announcement.
The Foreign Ministry acknowledged that it was told of the leak by the U.S. Navy on Friday but waited a day to announce it because the amount was negligible. The delay stirred a flurry of criticism.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura called the delay "not good," and Defense Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said "We'd have liked to hear from the Foreign Ministry earlier."
The delay also embarrassed Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura, who acknowledged that he learned about the leak from local media reports Saturday morning and said, "We should have made the announcement sooner."
The USS Houston is based at Apra Harbor in the U.S. territory of Guam in the Western Pacific. It visited a U.S. naval base in Sasebo in late March, and then stopped in Guam from late May to mid-June. The submarine sat in Pearl Harbor for about three weeks before it was dry-docked in mid-July.
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Yes, it''s amazing how such a guilty nation can maintain its sense of judgemental self-righteousness when it''s reminded of the fate it suffered due to its own violence against the world.
The older generation of Japanese still HATE Americans for making them lose the war.
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Pearl Harbor? That sounds familiar. Didn''t some country attack Pearl Harbor? I think it was quite a few years ago. Now let me think, who could it be, now who was it, it''s right on the tip of my tongue, could it be
JAPANNNNNNN???????????
Oh, yes, I remeber now. They''re the ones who attacked Pearl Harbor. They''re the oens who attacked the greatest nation on earth. They deserved whatever happened to them. You don''t just attack the USA and then whine when we FIGHT BACK.
And now they''re the ones so self-righteous...
You truly won''t believe what REALLY happened.
You truly won''t believe what REALLY happened.
I got it on DVD on eBay.
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Posted by lazareth at 01:20 PM : Aug 02, 2008
Kind of like McCain and Bush on Iraq.
Posted by KenHussein at 01:48 PM : Aug 02, 2008"
Your analogy is not even close, dumbarse. You cannot resist any opportunity to spew your Liberal drivel and make an idiot of yourself.
Though, Liberals exceed at making idiots of themselves. Just look at how they have been unable to beat President Bush for the past eight years; even though they label him as the dumbest man in America.
The ENTIRE Liberal machine cannot beat Bush, and it galls you to no end that the Liberals are losing ground in Congress and the race to the White house.
Obama''s Magical Mid-East Tour DROPPED his poll numbers instead of giving him the 10 point bump the Liberal Media was projecting.
Pelosi, Reid, and the Do-Nothing Democrat Congress'' ratings are at HISTORIC LOWS and still dropping. They are whining that it is all the Republican''s fault because they cannot face their own failure. They do not even have A THIRD of President Bush''s approval rating.
Reality speaks VOLUMES!
What a wonderful day it is.
Pelosi, Reid, and the Do-Nothing Democrat Congress'''' ratings are at HISTORIC LOWS and still dropping. They are whining that it is all the Republican''''s fault because they cannot face their own failure. They do not even have A THIRD of President Bush''''s approval rating.
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I thought that was worth repeating. Even if it is off-topic.
No matter how bad Bush is, the public thinks Congress is WORSE. Yet you don''t see that mentioned in the majority of political posts.
Posted by nrgmizer at 04:01 PM : Aug 02, 2008
I think you''re a troll who wants the USA to engage in total unilateral disarmament and never to fight ANY war under ANY circumstances.
What potential enemy of our nation is paying you?
Posted by nrgmizer at 04:03 PM : Aug 02, 2008
Nope, sorry. The Republicans don''t have the majority anymore. Just ask Pelosi.
You can''t blame the Republicans in Congress anymore.
Posted by didnt_inhale at 03:00 PM : Aug 02, 2008
Just look at the quagmire in Iraq as the alternative...
Posted by txgrouch2006 at 04:07 PM : Aug 02, 2008
Did Bush doubled the National Debt using your math ?
Posted by ioweign at 04:30 PM : Aug 02, 2008
What...?
No, not what did you say. I mean, WHAT IS A FILTHY TROLL LIKE YOU DOING AROUND HERE.
Get out of here quick, I''m looking for a big stick.
Posted by ioweign at 04:36 PM : Aug 02, 2008
I just found a big stick.
RUN, A$$HOLE!!!!
You truly won''''t believe what REALLY happened.
I got it on DVD on eBay.
Those savages are poised to sell us most of our cars and trucks, and may end up buying GM before its all over.
My opinion only: you are the savage, compared to the Japanese.
Posted by txgrouch2006
Are you serious? Eight years of president Bush and six of those years with a Republican Congress of fairly significant majority. Versus a two year razor slim Democratic Congress and no way to override a Bush veto. And you have the balls to expect Dems in two years and no real power to get past Bush to fix six years of Bush/Republican majority devastation?
Sorry, Americans aren''t buying that cr@p anymore.
did you know the US army employed mathemeticians to calculate how many men to throw at Midway, given that the Japanese would fight to the last man? Its a fairly difficult differential equation, but when solved gave the right value.
War: you are a number.
You should have paid more attention in your history classes.
The Japanese never invaded, conquered or occupied Midway.
It was a US possession for the duration of World War 2.
Semper Fi.
Charles H.
USMC (ret)
Sorry, Americans aren''''t buying that cr@p anymore.
Posted by Rafterman1 at 05:51 PM : Aug 02, 2008
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Yes, Americans ARE buying it - and it isn''t "cr@p." That''s why Congress has a LOWER approval rating than Bush. Congress HAS overridden Bush''s veto several times. Bush has lost control of Congress.
AND THE PUBLIC HAS DECLARED THAT THE NEW, INDEPENDENT CONGRESS STINKS EVEN WORSE THAN BUSH.
Posted by ubrew12 at 05:51 PM : Aug 02, 2008
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I''m sure they did. But that didn''t come up in the documentary.
Why not watch it yourself and see WHAT DID.
Why not learn about the experiences of he men WHO WERE THERE.
You would just listen to the men talking, and say, "That couldn''t have happened." But it did.
And you can bet the Japanese officers were saying the same thing.
Posted by txgrouch2006
I''ve seen half a dozen docs on Midway (most recently Battle 360''s take on it from the perspective of the USS Enterprise) and read the book "Midway" by Mitsuo *******. Plus the excellent movie Tora Tora Tora, not to mention that crappy soap-opera movie about it back in 1976.
What about it?
Posted by Rafterman1 at 08:19 PM : Aug 02, 2008
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Just getting tired of hearing crickets chirping, except for the Bush bashing. Trying to start a more productive conversation.
Tora, Tora, Tora was pretty good. The Discovery documentary is MUCH, MUCH BETTER.
The Japanese ships were trying to find the US fleet by sending out search planes in a fan pattern. The plane that was assigned to the sector that contained the fleet HAD ENGINE TROUBLE and it''s takeoff was delayed for nearly an hour. That delay turned out to be crucial in losing the battle for the Japanese. THEY LOST ALL THEIR CARRIERS BECAUSE OF IT.
Flying on instinct and luck THREE SQUADRONS of planes found the fleet at the same time and all attacked simultaneously. First the torpedo bombers started their runs. They were all shot down, only one torpedo pilot survived. But they diverted the Japanese attention so they didn''t notice the dive bombers attacking from above. The dive bombers cut the fleet to ribbons before they could turn their guns.
You wonder how such unlikely things could happen, and TURN THE OUTCOME OF THE ENTIRE WAR.
Japanese Admiral Nagumo''s indecision whether to arm his planes for another Midway strike or go after the US carriers was another key point. Then miscommunication caused US torpedo and dive bomber groups to not coordinate their attack. Zeros jumped low on the torpedo planes, slaughtering them. Then dive bombers, which could initially not find the Japanese carriers, followed a Japanese destroyer as it returned to its carrier group after stayng behind to attack a US sub, and hit the Japanese carriers from high. Zeros, having just slaughtered the torpedo planes, were too low to intercept the dive bombers. Nagumo''s constant switching between antiship and ground attack weapons left the Japanese carriers with bombs and open ful lines all over the deck, making the dive bombers'' attack even more devastating.
If any one of those events had not happened, the battle could have just as easily gone the other way. It was one of the most stunning victories at sea ever, but also one of the luckiest. And the Japanese did have some luck of their own. Only a lucky Japanese torpedo shot that sunk the damaged Yorktown as it was being towed back to Pearl blemished the victory.
Posted by Rafterman1 at 10:38 PM : Aug 02, 2008
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Yes, it was an incredible string of coincidences in our favor.
Posted by cbsblogger at 11:59 PM : Aug 02, 2008
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Because they attacked us. And they lost.
If that''s the situation, the reactor operators ought to be ''written up'' and the skipper of the boat replaced!
Not good enough. the truth is we provoked them, they respobnded, lost, surrendered, and are absolutely no threat to do so again, so we should not have military still occupying a sovereign state 50 years after the conflict ended. We need that money here in the US.
Having said that, it is disturbing that we would irradiate the water of another country, hide the fact for months, then when exposed, say "it was only a little bit".
No sane person would trust that statement to be true, and as seafood makes up a much larger proportion of the Japanese diet, they are totally right to be concerned.
Posted by brianbwb
We provoked them? Only in their minds at the time. The US cut off sales of steel and other items in response to Japan''s invasion of Manchuria. Japan attacked Pearl Harbor to neutralize the US fleet so that Japan could act freely to secure resources (aka invade) Indonesia. This is the "provocation" that Japan mentions in their 14 point memo to the US explaining their reasons for war - we "provoked" Japan by not allowing them a free hand at invading neighbors for their resources. So that argument is a fallacy.
As for the reasons why we are stillin Japan, you are forgetting one important thing - we are still invited to stay. I they wanted us to leave, we would leave. But there are mutual benefits to a US presence in Japan (eg, as a buffer against Korea and China), as well as weapon sales considerations. Despite the occasional protest in Okinawa whenever a US serviceman breaks the law, the Japanese government, even the more nationalist elements, have made little noise about US forces leaving Japan.
I suppose from the US viewpoint, you wouldn''t be made aware of the frequency of protests where the Japanese people are saying they want the bases out, as well as the South Koreans. (albeit for a different reason, the land the base is on is worth much more on the real estate market than they are getting for it)
I do business in these countries, and see firsthand that the US bases are most unwelcome.
As for your assertion that we would leave if asked, Japan has asked several times to leave Okinawa, we remain. They have been asked to relocate from the base in Seoul, still we remain, and most recently, have been askes on more than one occasion to leave Iraq, still we remain.
Third, your assertion that the US was meddling in the Manchurian problem, if true, is but another case where the US, again engages in hostilities that start as none of our business, and is done without a declaration of enmity that is illegal according to our constitution.
It is also interesting that you mention Indonesia. The archepelago at that time was in the midst of freeing itself from the shackles of Dutch colonialism, which had enslaved all but two Indonesian kingdoms, Aceh, and Yogjakarta, two sultanates that had never been conquered by any invading force (including, btw, the Japanese).
It was the unfortunate luck of the Indonesians that the Sultan of Aceh actually sent a letter to the Japanese asking for their assistance in repelling the Dutch occupiers, and once the Japanese got there, went beyond their invitation, dominating the Sundanese people of West Java, but were held back at Aceh and Yogja, but still that was a problem for Indonesia and Japan, and none of the US'' business.
Again, I have the advantage of currently doing business in all three countries, as I have for the past 20 years, and can say with complete confidence that the economies of these three players is now so interdependent, that there is no chance of any one party upsetting the balance by invading the other, therefore no buffer is needed, the cold war is over, and the US presence there is only a cash cow for the military profiteers, and serves no function whatsoever to protect the US.
Thank you for injecting a bit of sanity (based on actual knowledge) into this comment space.
I never cease to be amazed at the utter ignorance and hubris of those in this country who still believe that the USA is God''s gift to the world, that we can do no wrong, and that our intentions are always transparently pure as the driven snow. "Ignorance is bliss", as the saying goes.
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Posted by brianbwb
The US was "meddling" in Manchuria? When did I say that? Japan invaded Manchuria (quite violently, including bio weapons), the US refuses to sell Japan steel and other war goods becasue of it, and the US was meddling?
Posted by IDNNSG
The only ignorance here is of history and WWII. Japan is not just some poor victim that the big, bad ol'' USA was picking on. They were a violent regime, just as bad as the Nazis, who invaded countless neighbors and used bio weapons. Efforts to "santitize" Japan''s war attrocities because they lost the war is clouding history. Read "Embracing Defeat" about Japan and the occupation, 1945-1952 for some new insight.
Posted by brianbwb
They just traded one master for another.
===It was the unfortunate luck of the Indonesians that the Sultan of Aceh actually sent a letter to the Japanese asking for their assistance in repelling the Dutch occupiers, and once the Japanese got there, went beyond their invitation===
Posted by brianbwb
It is disturbing to see Americans rewrite the history of WWII. You seem to have some sort of admiration for the Japanese, based on their activities prior to WWII. You see the Japanese as they saw themselves in that time - heroic liberators of the oppressed from western democracies or "Asians for the Asians" as they liked to say. But in truth, as I said, the conutries just traded one set of masters for another more brutal set of masters.
I have admiration for Japan as well, but it is for what they accomplished after WWII and what they''ve become and not as some perceived victims of the US prior to WWII.
Posted by brianbwb at 04:35 AM : Aug 03, 2008
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Shut up.
Especially they wanted clear shipping lanes to the then-rich oil fields in Vietnam. That''s where they got most of their oil. They wanted us out of the Phillipines because if you look on the map, the Phillipines are right in between Japan and Vietnam.
So the attack on Pearl Harbor was Japan''s war for oil. It was a cowardly undeclared attack. They deserved whatever happened to them.
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by txgrouch2006
August 3, 2008 10:23 PM PDT
- the US presence there is only a cash cow for the military profiteers, and serves no function whatsoever to protect the US.
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Reply to this comment
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See all 43 CommentsPosted by brianbwb at 06:27 AM : Aug 03, 2008
Nobody can predict the future, it''s wise to keep options open. It would be stupid to give up such a strategic location that could become vitally important in the future. Especially when it was won at such a heavy price.