U.S. nuclear aircraft carrier George Washington deployed in Yokosuka

Thursday 25th September, 10:25 AM JST

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TheguyNextdoor at 09:44 AM JST - 26th September

It was kind of funny while i was walking to the trainstation last evening, half the people in the protest weren't even speaking, just walking like zombie's. There was one guy who caught my wife and my attention. He was yelling at the top of his old man lungs, "GO HOME AMERICA, GEORGE WASHINGTON GO HOME, GO HOME YANKEE!", funny thing...I've seen this guy when the base opens its gates, coming on eating and drinking with the rest of us.....so funny.
IchyaParadise at 09:45 AM JST - 26th September

CMEANDU26- That was just a lame way to get attention. Some people need it more than others. Not sure what time the next protest is gonna be, but it will be civil and peaceful just like the other ones...unnoticed.

khemet- They can hope, but that is about all that is gonna happen. People need to understand that the G-dub serves a purpose and like it or not, it is here to stay.
rtrhead1 at 10:22 AM JST - 26th September

The Nuclear Power Plant is the LEAST of your worries..what about the Nuclear Bombs and Missles on board?...Oooops I forgot this is a secret..

why don't the japanese start worrying about their own screwed up nuclear power stations in the vicintiy of tokyo, or wherever they are before they start worrying about a navy who's never had a nuclear accident with one of their ships? haven't the japanese been releasing heavy water in the the environment along with radioactive steam, and pulling shennanigans like allowing underage temp workers to run inspections on their power plants?
nigelboy at 10:36 AM JST - 26th September

why don't the japanese start worrying about their own screwed up nuclear power stations in the vicintiy of tokyo, or wherever they are before they start worrying about a navy who's never had a nuclear accident with one of their ships? haven't the japanese been releasing heavy water in the the environment along with radioactive steam, and pulling shennanigans like allowing underage temp workers to run inspections on their power plants?

??? What makes you so sure that they don't?
The people that are complaining are the local residents. I'm sure if there was a plan to build another nuclear power plant in anytown, any-prefecture, you're surely going to get some protest from the residents of that vicinity.
USNinJapan2 at 01:06 PM JST - 26th September

nigelboy

Can you show us a documented instance where Japanese citizens protested the safety of Japanese nuclear power plants at even a fraction of the intensity at which they protest American sea-going reactors? And I don't mean some concerned-looking housewife in curlers interviewed on the afternoon news saying, "Hai, fuan desune..." Good luck.
nigelboy at 01:54 PM JST - 26th September

USNinjapan2

http://shimabito.net/hantaiundou.htm
techall at 02:04 PM JST - 26th September

When my brother-in-law was attending Japanese university he said one way of making money available to students was to attend rallys. It didn't make any difference what the cause was or if you were for or against it, it was just a way for the rally sponsors to get the numbers up. Get paid to march and hold a sign, pump your fist in the air on cue, then go have a beer.
USNinJapan2 at 03:24 PM JST - 26th September

nigelboy

I've got to hand it to you, I'm surprised you were able to find an example. However, here's my take on these protesters. They are only (futily) protesting to prevent the construction of a nuclear power plant in their local area and once it is built (which is inevitable) all activity will cease because it is nothing more than NIMBY. In otherwords they will not protest the unsafe practices of the Japanese civilian nuclear program in principal but only their neighborhood. The people who are protesting the GW (except for the minority hard-core anti-nuke crowd) are claiming safety as the primary reason for their protest. They claim that they don't want a dangerous nuclear reactor so close to Tokyo. If safety of nuclear facilities is really their primary concern then their efforts and protests should start at the top of the list of potentially dangerous nuclear faciltities in Japan, not with the two safest reactors (the GW's)at the bottom of the list.
nigelboy at 04:27 PM JST - 26th September

USNinJapan2

Read my first response to the thread.

"The people that are complaining are the local residents. I'm sure if there was a plan to build another nuclear power plant in anytown, any-prefecture, you're surely going to get some protest from the residents of that vicinity."

You countered by citing that I should give an example which I did. (And it was easy, btw)

And no. I'm not going to make an argument whether they should protest the whole concept of nuclear facilities in general because each of these protesters' concerns are different (companies not performing the required tests prior to building, land allocation disputes, payment disputes, etc.) just as the local residents of Yokosuka believes that there is a legitimate concern over stationing such nuclear reactor in such a dense populated area ( nuclear facilites in Japan are located in less populated area. ) Furthermore, in order to build a nuclear plant in Japan, they have to go through two referundum among the locals and four application/inspection procedures from the government before they can operate. This is a process that GW did not go through.
USNinJapan2 at 05:55 PM JST - 26th September

nigelboy

You countered by citing that I should give an example which I did. (And it was easy, btw)

Just curious, what other examples did you find? As detailed as the list of events was, none of the link on the page work so I couldn't look into any of the background story.

Furthermore, in order to build a nuclear plant in Japan, they have to go through two referundum among the locals and four application/inspection procedures from the government before they can operate. This is a process that GW did not go through.

Naturally she didn't. Same goes for every other ship and aircraft in the US military's inventory that's stationed in Japan under the Status Of Forces Agreement. The US consulted with the GOJ when bringing the GW out to Yokosuka because nuclear anything is a sensitive issue for the Japanese, but bottomline the US military makes its decisions on what units to deploy where based on its operational needs. Nuclear or not, the GW's forward deployment should be no different from any other ship that is homeported here.

As for the GW not having gone through the Japanese application/inspection process, I don't know about you but I find comfort in the fact that the GW's two reactors are products of the US Navy's nuclear design branch and inspection program and not the incompetent Japanese system.
USNinJapan2 at 01:05 PM JST - 27th September

YangYong

Looks like you floated off yourself...
YangYong at 01:18 PM JST - 27th September

If they stay on base and aren't allowed outside the bounds of the perimeter fence, ok, let them float around; otherwise, no thanks.
nigelboy at 01:26 PM JST - 27th September

Just curious, what other examples did you find? As detailed as the list of events was, none of the link on the page work so I couldn't look into any of the background story.

Ooma Nucuclear plant

http://stop-oomagenpatu.spaces.live.com/ http://cnic.jp/modules/news/article.php?storyid=665

USNinJapan2

What I was "expecting" from you is a little more diplomacy out of your response but it appears that's asking too much since you reverted to the typical red, white and blue flag waving rhetoric often displayed by the service men type posters here. I guess they don't teach diplomacy in your line of work.

Just argue as though you're in a town meeting with the folks in Yokosaka. And if your objective is to convince these people, pointing out the safety record of Japan's nuclear plants of today or your blind faith in the US Navy's due dilligence are only going to antagonize these people even more for they too can counter with U.S. Navy's safety record of nuculear vessels in the past as well as their past cover ups for the Navy doesn't exactly subscribe to "full disclosure" policy.
rtrhead1 at 12:53 AM JST - 4th October

how is pointing out that the japanese nuclear power plants have had scandal after scandal after accident within the past ten years or so and the us navy's ships haven't had any being un-diplomatic? what past cover ups do you speak of? oh yeah, you don't have any because they've been "covered up", right?
rtrhead1 at 12:53 AM JST - 4th October

and calling the japanese nuclear system that is in place now incompetent isn't an insult, it's well documented fact.