Japan Press Weekly

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2011 August 31 - September 6 [NUCLEAR CRISIS]

US nuclear ship-using Yokosuka Port is located just above seismic focal zone

Kanagawa’s Yokosuka Port at which US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier George Washington is home porting is located just above a focal zone of an inevitable major earthquake, posing a risk that the USS GW will become stranded if a quake with a magnitude at 8 or so occurs.

An earthquake at the fault complex under the Miura Peninsula, Kanagawa Prefecture, will include Yokosuka Port in the focal region. The probability of an M-7.2 earthquake is said to be higher than before because of crustal deformation associated with the 3.11 earthquake.

It is expected that if a similar-sized earthquake as the 1703 Genroku Earthquake (M-8) occurs, the tsunami undertow would reach minus 4.6 meters.

Berth 12, where the USS GW is anchoring has a depth of 15 meters, and the GW’s draft is about 12 meters. If the sea level is lowered by 3 meters due to the tsunami undertow, the ship will likely hit the sea floor.

The Japanese Communist Party Kanagawa Prefectural Committee on September 5 made representations to the Kanagawa prefectural government and demanded that Governor Kuroiwa Yuji stop allowing the U.S. nuclear-powered vessel to use Yokosuka Port as its homeport.

Chair of the JCP Kanagawa committee, Koike Kiyoshi called for a halt to the utilization of Yokosuka Port for the USS GW while pointing out the presumed extent of damage caused by radiation contamination in the case of an accident.

Koike also warned of the possibility of inability to cool the GW’s nuclear reactors due to a loss of water supply functions after an earthquake or tsunamis.

On September 1, at the Yokosuka City Assembly plenary session, JCP representative Isaka Shinya encouraged the city to demand the central government and the United States to stop using Yokosuka as a U.S. navy’s port. Isaka also proposed that an evacuation handbook for residents be made in case of emergency.