A group of 635 residents from Tokyo and five neighboring prefectures lost a suit Monday in which they sought to stop the state from undertaking dredging work to accommodate a nuclear-powered U.S. aircraft carrier at the U.S. Navy base in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture. The plaintiffs, who are opposed to the planned deployment of the George Washington, are set to appeal the ruling issued by the Yokosuka branch of the Yokohama District Court.

Presiding Judge Tsuyoshi Ono said, ‘‘Dredging work should not impose a danger to leading a peaceful life beyond the limit of tolerance.’’ On the question of safety concerning the deployment of the aircraft carrier in August, the judge said the court cannot recognize specific danger to the lives of residents outside the base but called on the state to gather information on safety through diplomatic negotiations to alleviate the concerns of the residents. In the lawsuit filed last July, residents from Tokyo and Kanagawa, Ibaraki, Saitama, Chiba and Yamanashi prefectures claimed that residents in the Tokyo metropolitan area would be exposed to grave danger such as death from radiation in the event of a nuclear accident.