1.         The Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) was informed by the United States Navy (USN) today that the USS HOUSTON, a nuclear-powered submarine, had been leaking trace amounts of radioactive water since Jun 06.

2.         MINDEF confirms that the USS HOUSTON made a port call at Changi Naval Base (CNB) from 22 to 26 Sep 06. 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 Centre for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Science-National Environment Agency (CRPNS-NEA).

3.         The radioactivity level in CNB is jointly monitored by the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) and CRPNS-NEA. The IEMS, which has been in place at CNB since 2003, is a continuous real-time radioactivity monitoring system that monitors radioactivity in both the air and water.

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