MINDEF says leaked radioactive water from navy ship will not affect public safety

May Wong, Channel NewsAsia 25 Aug 08;

SINGAPORE: During a routine maintenance check this year, the USS Houston, a nuclear-powered US submarine was found to have been leaking trace amounts of radioactive water since June 2006.

The submarine had berthed at Changi Naval Base for five days in September 2006 and Singapore could also have been exposed to the leak.

But Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean explained in Parliament on Monday that the amount of radio activity leak, measured at 0.095 micro curies, was very minimal.

He said: "The US indicated that this was less than the amount of radio activity found in a common smoke detector and would not have any adverse effect on human health, marine life or the environment."

Assurance also came from the Ministry of Defence's (MINDEF's) 24-hour integrated environment monitoring system (IMES) at Changi Naval Base. This checks air quality, water and sea bed samples and can detect any abnormal levels of radiation.

Mr Teo said: "The safety limits are set by our national environmental agency centre of radiation protection and nuclear science. While the USS Houston was in Singapore in 2006, the IMES did not show any abnormal readings."

The defence minister said the US Navy has assured Singapore that their nuclear-powered vessels are designed to extremely stringent standards. These standards include being able to operate in a combat shock environment.

Mr Teo added that Singapore will also continue to look at its own integrated environment monitoring system to ensure that it remains up-to-date. - CNA/vm

No radiation worries: Chee Hean
Straits Times 26 Aug 08;

THE leak of radioactive water into Singapore waters by a visiting US submarine was 'less than the amount of radioactivity found in a common smoke detector', says Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean.

Citing the view of experts, Mr Teo yesterday assured Singaporeans the incident posed no danger to their safety.

The incident took place two years ago, in September 2006, but came to light only last month when the US Navy discovered the leak during routine maintenance of the USS Houston in Hawaii.

Yesterday, Mr Teo detailed in Parliament the steps Singapore subsequently took to establish the risks involved.

He was replying to Mr Michael Palmer (Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, deputy chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Defence and Foreign Affairs), who was concerned about the impact of the leak on public safety.

Mr Teo said the US initially alerted only Japan, saying on Aug 1 that the vessel could have contaminated a Nagasaki port, where it had berthed in March.

On Aug 4, Singapore asked the US about the leak. The US Navy said tests found it was at a rate 'slightly above' the vessel's 'stringent' design standards.

However, a US government nuclear laboratory found the amount of the leak was so low even the submarine's monitoring systems could not detect it.

At 0.095 micro curies, the US assessed the amount 'would not have any adverse effect on human health, marine life or the environment', Mr Teo said.

Meanwhile, records of the Defence Ministry's monitoring system show no abnormal radiation levels were detected from Sept 22 to Sept 26, 2006, when the vessel had berthed at Changi Naval Base.

The system provides 'independent verification that public safety was not compromised at any point'', Mr Teo said.

Singapore's defence scientists, on examining the US Navy's figures, judged the potential exposure from the leak was 100,000 times less than exposure from natural radiation in a year.

GOH CHIN LIAN

Radiation leak‘less than that in smoke detector’
Today Online 26 Aug 08;

THE amount of radioactivity that could have leaked from a United States nuclear-powered submarine, during a port call here in September 2006, would have been “less than the amount found in a common smoke detector”, said Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean.

Responding in Parliament to concerns, Mr Teo said he is “confident that there was no adverse impact on public health, marine life or the environment” as scientists here had assessed the “potential exposure to the reported leak is 100,000 times less than exposure from natural radiation in a year”.

To MP Michael Palmer’s question of why Mindef’s own radiation monitoring system at Changi Naval Base did not show any abnormal readings when the USS Houston was berthed here, Mr Teo said the reported leak was “so low that it was below the threshold that it was designed to detect”. Even the vessel’s own monitoring system did not pick up the leak, he added.

The US Navy has assured Mindef its nuclear-powered vessels are designed according to “extremely stringent standards” and suited to “operate in a combat shock environment”.

A leak is unlikely as the radioactive materials are unlikely to escape from the fuel rods, containment vessel, the compartment in which the reactor is mounted and the hull of the ship. TEO XUANWEI

US sub could have leaked radiation in Singapore: Government
Yahoo News 25 Aug 08;

A US nuclear-powered submarine could have leaked radioactive water during a Singapore stop in September 2006, Singapore's Minister for Defence Teo Chee Hean said Monday.

Speaking in parliament, Teo said the United States informed Singapore this month that the USS Houston had been leaking trace amounts of radioactive water since June 2006.

"This suggested that the USS Houston could have been leaking during her port call at Changi Naval Base in September 2006," Teo said in response to a parliamentary question.

Singapore had asked the United States for information after reports in early August said the USS Houston could have been leaking radioactive water during a port call in Japan in March this year, he said.

US tests showed the amount of radioactivity that could have leaked from the submarine during its Singapore stop was too small to pose any risk to public health, said Teo.

"To put things into perspective, the US indicated that this was less than the amount of radioactivity found in a common smoke detector, and would not have any adverse effect on human health, marine life or the environment," the defence minister said.

Singapore also conducted its own investigations which also showed public safety had not been affected by the leak at Changi Naval Base, he said.