UPDATE: In the event any of the locals in Yokosuka are planning on using this recent water leak as fuel to some of their upcoming protests, I’d like to direct them to this Associated Press report, which tells how a last month a nuclear power plant IN YOKOSUKA spilled some Uranium…now I don’t need to be a NUC to know that’s a bad thing. From the article:
TOKYO (AP) — A small amount of uranium powder escaped from a machine at a Japanese nuclear fuel plant near Tokyo, slightly exposing a worker to radiation, the plant operator said Thursday.
There was no health threat to the worker and the spill from Wednesday’s incident was contained inside the plant in Yokosuka, about 30 miles southwest of Tokyo, according to Global Nuclear Fuel-Japan Co.
The accident occurred when a uranium pressing unit was started up without a cap that had been removed for an inspection, the company said.
Stars & Stripes and other media outlets are reporting on an incident involving the submarine USS Houston (SSN-713). It appears the nuclear-power sub may have leaked small traces of radioactive water in bases around Japan, and it’s home port of Guam. No need to fear, however, Big Navy says the amount of water leaked was about the size of a 50 pound bag of commercial fertilizer (or 0.0000005 curies if you want to impress your friends from your dirty-bomb building club), and apparently that’s not anything to worry about. From the article:
The leak on the USS Houston was found on July 17 when the submarine was in dry dock in Hawaii, according to Lt. Cmdr. David Benham, a spokesman for Commander Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet in Hawaii.
Navy officials are still investigating the cause of the leak and when it started, Benham said in a phone interview.
But he stressed that the leak was extremely minimal — less than amount of radiation found in a 50-pound bag of fertilizer — and that the Houston’s nuclear reactor and crew were never in danger.
“We are talking about extremely low levels,” Benham said. “This is definitely not nuclear waste. This is water.”
Now I’m not a NUC, so excuse me for being ignorant. What’s the difference between radioactive waste and anything else that’s radioactive? Is one less harmful than the other. If the amount of water that leaked was comparable to a 50lb bag of fertilizer, than it shouldn’t be a big deal. I don’t think Japan was ever known for its clean beaches. Unfortunately, this is just going to add fuel to the fire of opponents of the upcoming arrival of the USS George Washington. On the upside, even though it’s a minor amount of radiation, maybe it’s enough that we could have a live-action Godzilla sequel soon.
Read the article: U.S. sub may have leaked trace amounts of radiation at Japan, Guam bases. Read a Bubblehead’s take on it here: USS Houston Radioactive Leak Reported.
Comments 5
Nuclear waste would generally refer to the parts of the core (uranium, etc..) released into the environment. This would be indicative of serious structural damage to the vessel (think Chernobyl).
Now, throughout any nuclear process, just like any shipboard process really, there is water moving around for cooling or steam generation. This water is ‘exposed’ to a radiation field much like (well, exactly like) your food is exposed to a radiation field in a microwave. Due to this, some of the water molecules can absorb some of this energy, which technically would be defined as radiation (again, your microwave works by placing a shitload of energy into the water molecules in your food - the amound of radiation absorbed by the water we’re talking in the Houston’s case wouldn’t even raise it’s temperature, and is orders of magnitude less than what happens to your standard re-heated burrito).
More for administrative controls than public safety the overboard flows of this ‘exposed’ material is tightly controlled. In this case there was an overboard leak that couldn’t be caught by Navy paperwork - thus leading to an event that would immediately be overblown by any media covering it.
Posted 02 Aug 2008 at 5:12 pm ¶Waste or not waste? Danger or not? Hmmmmmmmmmm. I think I will have to consult with an expert on such matters to get real scoop, “Homer Simpson.”
Posted 02 Aug 2008 at 11:07 pm ¶So I suppose I’ll just add this whole debacle to my ever-growing list of reasons I haven’t yet scheduled my move to Japan. *sigh*
Posted 03 Aug 2008 at 7:08 am ¶This “leak” is nothing to worry about. It is such a small amount you could actually drink it and be just fine. However I am sure that the locals are throwing an “I told you so!” fit.
Posted 03 Aug 2008 at 1:32 pm ¶I’d totally drink it on a dare.
Posted 03 Aug 2008 at 7:27 pm ¶Post a Comment
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