Japan Warned Of Nuclear Leak From U.S. Sub

Navy Says "Negligible" Amount of Radioactive Water Spilled From USS Houston During Pacific Tour

(AP)  The U.S. Navy said that one of its nuclear-powered submarines had leaked minimally radioactive water earlier this year, threatening to cause a stir in Japan where both the U.S. military presence and its nuclear vessels are controversial.

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.

[txgrouch2006]

the US presence there is only a cash cow for the military profiteers, and serves no function whatsoever to protect the US.
Posted 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.

[txgrouch2006]

In the years immediately before WW2, the Japanese were murderous tyrannical ba$tards. We would have been justified to attack them ourselves. They wanted to drive us out of the Pacific so they''d have a free hand to do whatever they wanted.

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.

[txgrouch2006]

Not good enough.
Posted by brianbwb at 04:35 AM : Aug 03, 2008
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Shut up.

[rafterman1]

===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===
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.

[rafterman1]

===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.===
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.

[rafterman1]

===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.===


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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?

[idnnsg]

brianbwb,

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.

[brianbwb-2009]

"...(eg, as a buffer against Korea and China),..." Posted by Rafterman1

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.

[brianbwb-2009]

Posted by Rafterman1

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.

[brianbwb-2009]

Posted by Rafterman1

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.

[rafterman1]

===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.===
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.

[brianbwb-2009]

"Because they attacked us. And they lost." Posted by txgrouch2006

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.

[stn_sage]

Look! Either the water was leaking or it wasn''t! And you''re telling us that they didn''t notice it until they reached Pearl Harbot?! You know, what?!

If that''s the situation, the reactor operators ought to be ''written up'' and the skipper of the boat replaced!

[txgrouch2006]

Does anyone know why the USA still has troops in Japan?
Posted by cbsblogger at 11:59 PM : Aug 02, 2008
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Because they attacked us. And they lost.

[cbsblogger]

Does anyone know why the USA still has troops in Japan?

[txgrouch2006]

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.
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.

[rafterman1]

While there was no way that Japan could have defeated the US in WWII, not with our industrial capacity, a Japanese victory at Midway may have persuaded the US to sue for peace, at least for a while. A Japanese victory at Midway could have set up the loss of Hawaii and push the US Navy back to San Diego. That narrow string events changed the outcome of the Pacific war.

[rafterman1]

There were a number of factors involved in the victory at Midway, the #4 scout being one of them. But the biggest was station Hypo''s decrypting of the Japanese JN-25 naval code and its discovery of the Midway operation Which in itelf was triggered by the April 1942 B-25 raid on Japan from the USS Hornet.

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.

[txgrouch2006]

The US planes had no idea where the Japanese fleet was. US pilots only knew which way the Japanese planes departed to return to their carriers. By the time US planes were in the air, the Japanese planes were gone and the US pilots could only guess which way to fly.

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.

[txgrouch2006]

Plus the excellent movie Tora Tora Tora, not to mention that crappy soap-opera movie about it back in 1976.
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.