Reuters, Tokyo- A small amount of radiation leaked from a US nuclear-powered submarine that stopped by Japan earlier this year, the Japanese government said on Saturday, prompting calls by civic groups for full disclosure.

The leak, which was too small to have any impact on the environment, was found during an inspection of the nuclear-powered Houston in Hawaii, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said, citing information provided by the U.S. government on Friday.

"The amounts were very, very, very small and were not of the sort that would affect the human body or the environment," Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura told a news conference.

The incident comes at a time when the United States has been trying to allay fears over the planned stationing of nuclear-powered aircraft carrier George Washington in Japan, the only country to have suffered nuclear attacks.

The foreign ministry said some cooling water was found seeping out from the submarine, which had stopped over in Japan in March and April, adding that it was unclear when such seepage had first occurred.

Twenty-four hour radiation monitoring conducted by the government during the Houston's stay in Japan in March and April had revealed no irregularities, the Foreign Ministry said.

Since March, the Houston was deployed in the Pacific Ocean, a foreign ministry official said.

Over the course of that deployment, the total amount of radiation that could have leaked from the Houston was roughly equivalent to the amount that can be found in a bag of fertilizer, the ministry said.

Many Japanese are sensitive about the use of nuclear power by military forces. The Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki came under nuclear attack from the United States at the end of World War Two in August 1945.

A civic group opposed to the deployment to Japan of the nuclear-powered George Washington said the leak raises doubts about the safety of the U.S. Navy's nuclear-powered vessels.

"The claim...that the U.S. Navy's nuclear-powered vessels are safe and are not susceptible to radiation leaks has completely broken down," Masahiko Goto, a lawyer representing the group said in a statement.

Goto called on the U.S. Navy to disclose the causes of the radiation leak and urged the Japanese government to seek complete disclosure.

A fire broke out on board the George Washington in May, adding to concerns about the ship's safety. The U.S. Navy replaced the George Washington's captain after the incident.

The aircraft carrier is scheduled to arrive in Yokosuka, 45 km (28 miles) southwest of Tokyo, in late September.

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