A U.S. nuclear-powered submarine which has steadily been leaking a small amount of radiation for over two years stopped at a Singapore port but the radiation leak was within safety limits, Singapore's Defense Ministry said on Thursday.
The Ministry said in a statement that it was informed by the United States Navy (USN) on Thursday that the nuclear-powered submarine USS HOUSTON had been leaking trace amounts of radioactive water since June 2006.
The ministry confirmed the USS HOUSTON made a port call at Changi Naval Base (CNB) from Sept. 22 to 26, 2006, but it said the radioactivity level in the Base was normal and within the safety limits during the port call.
"During the port call, the radioactivity readings registered by the Integrated Environment Monitoring System (IEMS) in CNB were within the safety limits set by the Center for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Science-National Environment Agency (CRPNS-NEA)," said the defense ministry.
It added that the radioactivity level in the naval base is jointly monitored by the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) and the radiation monitoring body.
The statement also said Singapore's environment monitoring system, which has been in place at the naval base since 2003, is a continuous real-time radioactivity monitoring system that monitors radioactivity in both the air and water.
The Houston radiation leak caused a big media stir in Japan last week. The U.S. and Japan said on Thursday that it stopped at three Japanese ports but the radiation leak was too small to cause harm.
Source: Xinhua
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