August 03, 2008	Sunday	Rajab 30, 1429

TOKYO, Aug 2: Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura berated his department on Saturday for failing to notify him of a radioactive leak from a US nuclear submarine, saying he learnt of the incident on television.

The communication glitch came the same day that Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda installed a new cabinet to revive sagging public support for his government.

“This (Saturday) morning I was watching CNN, and even if I don't understand English that well I saw that something strange was going on,” Komura, who retained the post in the new cabinet, told a news conference.

“I therefore contacted (his subordinates) myself,” he said, adding that foreign ministry officials “should have shared the information faster” to enable him to make an announcement quickly.

The Pentagon on Friday announced that trace amounts of radioactivity may have seeped out of US nuclear missile submarine USS Houston during a cruise that included stops in Japan and Guam.

The Japanese foreign ministry said it received the information from the US government on Friday afternoon.

Komura said officials did not notify him because the leak posed no risk for residents or the environment. “But that is not a reason for delay,” he said.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura, the government's number two who also retained his post, also criticised the Foreign Ministry for the delay.

“It is sincerely bad that some media reports preceded (the government's) announcement,” he said.

“If the Foreign Ministry received communication from the US government, then it should either report to the Prime Minister's office or make a public announcement,” he told reporters.—AFP