Navy sub leaked radiation

[Ichingcarpenter]

Source: CNN

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Water with trace amounts of radioactivity may have been leaking for months from a U.S. Navy nuclear-powered submarine as it traveled around the Pacific to ports in Guam, Japan and Hawaii, Navy officials told CNN Friday.

The leak was found on the USS Houston, a Los Angeles class fast attack submarine, after it came to Hawaii for routine maintenance last month, Navy officials said.

Navy officials believe the amount of radiation leaked was virtually undetectable. But the Navy alerted the Japanese government because the submarine had been docked in Japan.

Read more: http://cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com/2008/08/01/navy-sub-leaked-radiation/

[Pavulon]

1. godzilla!(that is all)

[Tunkamerica]

2. That's how it starts

[AndyTiedye]

3. Doesn't Out Navy Monitor For That Sort of Thing? We Can Be Sure The Russians and the Chinese Do

Even if the amount of radiation that was leaked does not pose a health risk
(and why should we believe them when they say this?)
Wouldn't it make our subs easier for another power's sub hunters to find?

[NutmegYankee]

11. The amount that leaked out would be undetectable at sea.

It's a really really tiny amount of radiation, and a very large ocean.

[benld74]

4. no no no its lefty loosy, righty tighty got it now!??

[originalpckelly]

5. Sub reactors use an even higher enrichment of uranium than nuclear weapons do!

Imagine if one of those subs gets hit by a torpedo, there would be radioactive material spread out from the impact site all around the world depending upon the ocean's currents.

[onethatcares]

6. ahh, no big deal, a little radiation here or there,

nothing to worry about, I mean, hey, think of it like your microwave oven having a bad gasket. :argh:

[vinylsolution]

7. So we now have TWO toxic Houstons.

One in Texas, another leaking radioactive slime into the sea.

Oh well, gotta keep up our guard against the al Qaeda submarine fleet.

[DogPoundPup]

8. Good point about TWO toxic Houstons n/t

[fasttense]

9. Admiral Rickover would have never allowed this.

Those officers on that sub would have been fired and kicked out of the Navy. There would have been a Navy wide safety stand down. This should never have happened.

[AtheistCrusader]

10. Horseshit.

We don't even know what happened yet.

[NutmegYankee]

12. UPDATE:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/08/01/navy.sub.leak/index.html

The problem was discovered last month when a build-up of leaking water popped a covered valve and poured onto a sailor's leg while the submarine was in dry dock.

An investigation found a valve was slowly dripping water from the sub's nuclear power plant. The water had not been in direct contact with the nuclear reactor, Navy officials said.

Officials with knowledge of the incident could not quantify the amount of radiation leaked but insisted it was "negligible" and an "extremely low level." The total amount leaked while the sub was in port in Guam, Japan and Hawaii was less than a half of a microcurie (0.0000005 curies), or less than what is found in a 50-pound bag of lawn and garden fertilizer, the officials said.

The sailor who was doused, a Houston crew member, tested negative for radiation from the water, according to Navy officials.

This is a non-issue. If the water wasn't in direct contact with the reactor, like a secondary loop etc, then very little radiation would exist in the water. This story is just sensationalist.

[kickysnana]

13. Alright, who took the batteries out of the geiger counter? n/t