The biggest issue is that if, Gods forbid, ICBM's start flying, Bangor (and to a lesser extent, Everett Naval Station and JBLM) would be a major target.
With that being said, I'd sure as shit rather have them than not have them.
That statistic seems rather misleading, given that most of the Trident fleet is out on-patrol at any given time, and not berthed at Bangor, which would be rather pointless in terms of their function as a deterrent. After all, that's precisely what the term "deployed" means: "to move into position for military action". I suppose the could be counting older de-commissioned and de-activated warheads no longer in-service, but that would still be somewhat disingenuous, since by-definition those systems would not be considered "deployed", as they could not be used in an active engagement.
According to friends of mine who grew up on Bainbridge Island, the water tower near the high school had a literal bulls eye painted on top of it, denoting just such a target.
I grew up on the Peninsula, and while I think it's important to be aware of the Trident base (and I am anti-nuke) this is a pretty hyperbolic article. I had friends in high school whose parents were submariners at Bangor. They weren't "all about death." And basic physics means that you certainly can't detect radiation from Bangor in Seattle with a Geiger counter--it would be indistinguishable from the background. That's just plain fear-mongering.
Just so you guys know, this article is full of shit. A piece of paper or a debit card can block most types of radiation, those that it cannot are usually blockable with just a few feet of concrete. If there were radiation in Seattle from those weapons in would mean that one of them had exploded there at one point in time. I mean really, it's not like they're leaving nuclear missiles out in the open air on a naval station. There's a lot more between those missiles and the great outdoors than a few feet of concrete.
http://oopslist.com/LostMyJobToday1.jpg
With that being said, I'd sure as shit rather have them than not have them.
Indeed! I can tell you that in the last couple of decades in Seattle, I have never feared a Soviet nuclear strike.
According to friends of mine who grew up on Bainbridge Island, the water tower near the high school had a literal bulls eye painted on top of it, denoting just such a target.