The latest wrinkle in the nuclear saga is this CNN report that the Pentagon is "considering" mandatory evacuations of not only military families, but also service members, from the Tokyo area. It's not clear if these are just contingency plans, or whether they are, as CNN is implying, closer to reality than just contingency planning.
Quote:
The U.S. military is considering the mandatory evacuation of thousands of American troops and their families in Japan out of concern over rising radiation levels, a senior defense official tells CNN.

The State Department has also sent dependents out of Japan even from as far as the Nagoya consulate, and the military has been carrying out the voluntary evacaution of military dependents. All US warships have steamed out of Yokosuka, including the aircraft carrier USS George Washington even though it is not fully operational and not even fully manned.

It's hard to reconcile the reassurances of the Japanese government with the actions taken by the US government. I suppose it could be out of an abundance of caution but these are the kinds of actions that really put strain on diplomatic relations, so I'm sure that they are not being done lightly. Makes you wonder what the US government knows that we don't know about.

I forget if I posted this, but the Swedish embassy already told its nationals on the 16th to start taking KI within 250km of Fukushima Daiichi, including those in Tokyo. Granted, there aren't that many Swedes in Japan, but it's part of the pattern.

My friend who evacuated from Japan is having a heck of a time making heads or tails of the news and trying to decide whether or when it is safe to return.