 On 14 March 2011, the ship was forced to relocate to avoid a radioactive plume from the Fukushima I nuclear accidents which had contaminated 17 crew members of three helicopter crews.On 23 March, "Ronald Reagan"s crew performed radiation decontamination by scrubbing down any surface that could have been contaminated, including the island superstructure and flight deck, to remove any potential radiation hazards.On 4 April 2011, Japan's minister of defense, Toshimi Kitazawa, accompanied by US ambassador to Japan John Roos, visited the ship to thank the crew for their assistance as part of Operation Tomodachi.