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| China-Japan-Koreas | |
| Japanese protest US nuclear carrier | |
| 2008-07-14 | |
| I was wondering when they'd get around to this... TOKYO - Thousands of Japanese rallied against the permanent basing of a nuclear-powered U.S. warship near Tokyo, saying a recent onboard fire made it unsafe. About 13,000 protesters gathered at a park near the port of Yokosuka, just south of the capital, where the USS George Washington aircraft carrier will be based, media reports and organizers said. The George Washington -- relieving the soon-to-be decommissioned USS Kitty Hawk -- will be the first U.S. Navy nuclear-powered vessel to station permanently in Japan. The ship's arrival was originally set for August under a Japan-U.S. security deal, but was delayed because of a fire aboard the vessel in May. The George Washington's deployment had already triggered protests, and the fire escalated concerns many Japanese have about nuclear power. Some 250 residents have filed a lawsuit seeking to block the aircraft carrier from basing in Japan. The U.S. Navy has said the George Washington's fire, which left one sailor with minor burns and 23 others with heat stress, never threatened the safety of the ship's nuclear reactor. However, some of the protesters questioned the safety of the vessel Sunday. "The U.S. military has not fully disclosed the cause (of the fire)," said Masahiko Goto, a lawyer representing local residents, Kyodo News agency reported. "Japan should not allow a deployment when serious safety concerns remain," Goto said. The Kitty Hawk, which was commissioned in 1961, has been home-ported in Japan since 1998 as the only forward-deployed carrier in the U.S. Navy. It is the Navy's last conventionally powered aircraft carrier. Details on the fire...May 22. The fire broke out near a major ventilation conduit in the rear of the carrier. That conduit not only circulated air to compartments below the waterline, but also contained pipes carrying large numbers of electrical and communications cables. These lit up and before the fire was completely put out (it took twelve hours), over 120,000 meters (nearly 400,000 feet) of cables were damaged or destroyed. Over two percent of the ships 3,800 spaces (rooms) were damaged. Some of the spaces suffered severe damage (metal walls melted or seriously weakened), but the most troublesome damage was to the electrical and data cables.
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| Posted by:tu3031 |
| #4 "As of 2005, Japan was the third largest nuclear power user in the world with 55 nuclear reactors accounting for 30% of its electricity generated." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_in_Japan |
| Posted by: Darrell 2008-07-14 13:47 |
| #3 "People in Japan, the only country to suffer from atomic bombings, tend to be sensitive about the military use of nuclear technology." Their relatives weren't too sensitive about Korea, China, Pearl Harbor... |
| Posted by: Darrell 2008-07-14 13:22 |
| #2 No, don't move the carrier group. These are protestors -- this is not a protest from the Japanese government. |
| Posted by: Darrell 2008-07-14 13:19 |
| #1 And a little more research... The fire was caused by improper storage of combustible material. This is a common problem when a ship is setting off on a long cruise, and there's lots of stuff to be stored away. The Washington was moving around the southern tip of South America when the fire broke out. Had the combustible material not been there, the fire would not have lasted as long, done as much damage, or perhaps even started at all. Over the last year, major ship inspections (by teams sent in by higher commands) have found increasing evidence of lower standards and poor work habits in the U.S. Navy. The navy is still trying to find, and fix, all the causes of this problem. Meanwhile, they have the fire on the Washington to remind that the problem is still there. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2008-07-14 12:26 |