SG Complains

US sub could have leaked radiation in Singapore: govt

According to Yahoo!News:

SINGAPORE (AFP) – 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.

- WHAT??? Leaking trace amount of radioactive water in 2006???? I wondered if the fishes glows in the dark?? haha…

Ok, seriously this is real shitty event happening in our little small country Singapore… For such a big event to be “exposed” now after 2 whole years is to reduce “panic”? The news article clearly states that the leak in radioactive material “was too small to pose any risk to public health“.

However, radiation leak is very serious issue. The study by United States over health hazards caused by leaking of radiation is not very complete only to state that “Some people who live near the plants contend that their communities suffered unusual numbers of cancers and birth defects” and It has been estimated that as little as five rads of penetrating X-ray or gamma radiation to the whole body can lead to leukemia in some particularly susceptible people. But that relatively modest dose has no detectable long-term effect on many others.

The article did not mention how much radiation was leaked and hence I cannot easily find more information about how much effects will it affect on the fishes in the sea and people who eat the fishes from affected areas.

If the leaked amount from the “nuclear submarine” is negligible then it would be safely say that your microwave oven might be even more dangerous…but if it’s “UNKNOWN” quantity since it’s only just revealed the leak now and it had leaked way back in 2006…the radioactive “leakage” might had been washed away by the sea and the level of radiation leak are unmeasurable by now.

Well, just like old mistakes like escaped terrorist…don’t expect any head to roll in this “non-event” that potentially wipe out the whole Singapore in one big fallout from nuclear radiation leakage and convert our small little red dot into urban wasteland similar to the Chernobyl disaster.

It’s still chilling to read the article that we could had been dead way back in 2006…or worst evacuated forcefully from our homes to flee from radiation leakage.

It’s the past now but we should not forget this incident and make this a one time affair as we can ill afford a disaster.