U.S. Military Considering Mandatory Evacuation Of Naval Base In Japan Over Radiation

USS George Washington Nimitz Class Nuclear Powered Aircraft Carrier

The United States military is reportedly considering evacuating the largest naval base in Japan if radiation levels from the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant continue to rise.The nuclear powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington has already moved to avoid additional radiation exposure.

An article titled “U.S. military considering mandatory evacuations in Yokosuka” by Chris Lawrence March 21, 2011 and published on the CNN website goes into additional details. The naval base at Yokosuka is the largest for the United States in Japan. Yokosuka is just south of Tokyo.

The evacuation of a large naval base would involve moving thousands of troops and their families and would signal the severity of the radiation threat. What is unknown is what would be the long term effect of radiation contamination at a large United States military base. Certain types of radioactive elements do not go away very quickly. What could be the long term effects of radiation on a military facility?

The effects on the naval station are likely to be minor unless things spiral out of control at the nuclear power plant and if that happened, the city of Tokyo is closer to the power plant than the base. This nuclear accident crisis just seems to keep going and changing as time goes on.