Radioactive leak: MP blasts Mindef

Klang MP Charles Santiago hit out at the Defence Ministry's ‘complacency’ regarding the 2006 radioactive leak at Westport, Klang, by the US nuclear-powered submarine

MCPX

USS Houston.

While Japan and Singapore have asked the US for more information on and put into place mechanisms in response to the incident, Mindef has said it has not received any information on it.

Because no report has been lodged on the leak, there is no probe into the matter, Mindef public relations director Col Fadzlette Osman Merican had said.

“I am appalled to note that the Malaysian Defence Ministry had been complacent about the radioactive leak by the US nuclear-powered submarine USS Houston, which berthed at Westport, Klang from Sept 16-21, 2006.

“This has implications for health, environment and quality of life of my constituents in Klang.

“I call upon Prime Minister and newly minted Minister of Defence Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to investigate the radioactive leak and take the necessary action to overcome any problems that could have developed since two years ago,” Santiago said in a statement today.

Extremely Low Level

In early August this year, reports emerged that the USS Houston - which had also made port calls at Guam, Pearl Harbour, Singapore and Japan - had been leaking when it berthed at Westport between Sept 16-21, 2006.

CNN reported that the US Navy had said that the leak was minor in both volume and radioactivity, and that the radioactivity from the leaks in all foreign ports was “negligible”, at an “extremely low level” and added up to “less than that found in a smoke detector”.

“The trace levels of radioactivity would have no adverse effect on human health, marine life, or the environment,” reported AP quoting an official document released late August.

“The radiation exposure dose would be less than that received from a routine chest X-ray,” the report added.

Notwithstanding the amount, Santiago said the government still has to carry out due diligence to ensure no future effects of the leaks.

“This is imminent as the cumulative exposure is never seen in a matter of days but manifests itself in years to come,” he said.

He also chided Mindef for saying it had no information on the matter whereas foreign reports said the governments of Singapore, Malaysia and Japan had been given reports of the incident.

Impose Stringent Conditions

The Singaporean government undertook an Integrated Environment Monitoring System (IEMS) at Changi Naval Base which could analyze air and water quality and detect abnormal levels of radiation, Santiago noted.

The ports in Japan, meanwhile, were placed on alert, whereas the Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura said that a 24-hour radiation monitoring was conducted by the government during the Houston's port call in Japan.

“I urge the new Defence Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to seriously form a team of experts to investigate if the radioactive spill complies with or exceeds the standards set by the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) and International Commission on Radiological Protection,” said Santiago.

“The government should impose stringent conditions before the permission to dock is given to nuclear-powered vehicles.

“It must also put in place an independent monitoring system to take readings of air quality, water and sea-bed samples to determine the normal background environmental radiation level. This reading could be used to, in turn, evaluate any abnormal level of radiation.

“Failure to do so would only go to show that Abdullah and the government are not serious about the potential health hazards caused by the radioactive leak to public health, marine life and the environment.

“It would also fail to instil confidence in Malaysia's plan to go nuclear by 2023,” he added.