USS Houston's Radioactive Water Leak

There is an interesting story being covered by some of the media, It would appear the USS Houston (SSN 713) has been leaking radioactive water, and no one is quite sure for how long. The leak was apparently discovered while the USS Houston undergoes routine maintenance in Pearl Harbor. We start with the Navy Times coverage of the story.

One of the shut valves associated with the boat’s propulsion system was “weeping” water at a rate higher than design specifications, he said.

“At no time was there any risk to the reactor plant, the safety of the crew or the safety of the public,” he said.

For context, he said the amount of radioactivity released was “less than the quantity of naturally occurring radioactivity in a bag of common lawn and garden fertilizer.”

One can hear the conspiracy theories now, but instead of looking what the conspiracy theory specialists are saying, we turn to the professionals to get a reaction. Joel Kennedy, who also got hit by the Google Gremlins, came online and jumped on the topic. You have to love bubbleheads, they have their own language when talking about what they can't talk about.

While us nukes know that this really isn't that big a deal, we really can't talk about it in the open like this. All of us know where the leak came from (it's obvious they weren't using the "drum" this time) but any discussion of coolant discharge is pretty much covered by NNPI, so we can't go there. For example, until this post, there's only one Google return for the search "coolant discharge log"; luckily for me, it's from an official Navy site (Vol. VI, Chapter 25, Para. 25.2.4 of the JFMM), but it only says that the discharge log can be used to determine the number of days in-port or in drydock for URO periodicity determination -- that brief mention at least allows me to mention that such a document exists.

As Joel goes on to note, and as a few readers have mentioned in email, the discharge log is one of the most audited administrative logs on a nuclear submarine. This is an example of how radioactive accidents can happen on US nuclear powered submarines, but they don't quite reach the level of hype that conspiracy theories would have one believe. Unfortunately, there will not be a three eyed offspring from a sailor currently serving on the USS Houston (SSN 713), much to the disappointment of the Sci-Fi channel B-movie makers.

A number of sub bloggers are covering this issue. Chap has full spectrum coverage, and Checks with Charts has an interesting take on this. The Sub Report is also covering, and has a link to this Seattle Times article noting the US Navy has alerted Japan that the leak could have been occurring during a recent visit by the USS Houston (SSN 713).