Hiroshima sit-in appeals for ending use of nuclear energy on 30th anniversary of Chernobyl accident
Apr. 27, 2016
by Kyosuke Mizukawa and Shinji Morito, Staff Writers
A sit-in to appeal for ending the use of nuclear energy was held on April 26 to mark the 30th anniversary of the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl in the former Soviet Union. The demonstrators were members of the Hiroshima Congress Against A- and H-Bombs (Gensuikin) and the Hiroshima Peace Action Center. A specialist who has been involved in support activities for people exposed to radiation in Chernobyl was invited to a lecture meeting where participants learned about current conditions at the site of the nuclear accident.
During the sit-in, which began at noon in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Naka Ward, Tetsuo Kaneko, the head of Gensuikin, said, “We must not forget that the same radiation damage which occurred in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and causes suffering to those residents to this day also happened in Chernobyl and still continues there,” and appealed to the sit-in participants to work together.
Seventy-five people, including A-bomb survivors and union members, held up a banner which bore the words “Human beings cannot coexist with nuclear weapons and nuclear energy” and conveyed their feelings by staging a silent sit-in for about 30 minutes in front of the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims. The participants also adopted a petition which opposes the re-start of the Shikoku Electric Company’s Ikata nuclear power plant, located in Ikata-cho, Ehime Prefecture.
The lecture meeting held in the evening of April 26 in Nishi Ward was attended by about 100 people. Katsumi Furitsu, a doctor involved in a citizens’ group in Osaka called Kansai Relief for Chernobyl Hibakusha, told the participants about the health effects caused by the Chernobyl accident since the time of the disaster 30 years ago. She said, “The local communities were destroyed due to radiation contamination and people’s concerns about their health will continue for the rest of their lives. We have to promote the creation of a nuclear-free society and expand the use of renewable energy sources.”
(Originally published on April 27, 2016)
A sit-in to appeal for ending the use of nuclear energy was held on April 26 to mark the 30th anniversary of the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl in the former Soviet Union. The demonstrators were members of the Hiroshima Congress Against A- and H-Bombs (Gensuikin) and the Hiroshima Peace Action Center. A specialist who has been involved in support activities for people exposed to radiation in Chernobyl was invited to a lecture meeting where participants learned about current conditions at the site of the nuclear accident.
During the sit-in, which began at noon in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Naka Ward, Tetsuo Kaneko, the head of Gensuikin, said, “We must not forget that the same radiation damage which occurred in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and causes suffering to those residents to this day also happened in Chernobyl and still continues there,” and appealed to the sit-in participants to work together.
Seventy-five people, including A-bomb survivors and union members, held up a banner which bore the words “Human beings cannot coexist with nuclear weapons and nuclear energy” and conveyed their feelings by staging a silent sit-in for about 30 minutes in front of the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims. The participants also adopted a petition which opposes the re-start of the Shikoku Electric Company’s Ikata nuclear power plant, located in Ikata-cho, Ehime Prefecture.
The lecture meeting held in the evening of April 26 in Nishi Ward was attended by about 100 people. Katsumi Furitsu, a doctor involved in a citizens’ group in Osaka called Kansai Relief for Chernobyl Hibakusha, told the participants about the health effects caused by the Chernobyl accident since the time of the disaster 30 years ago. She said, “The local communities were destroyed due to radiation contamination and people’s concerns about their health will continue for the rest of their lives. We have to promote the creation of a nuclear-free society and expand the use of renewable energy sources.”
(Originally published on April 27, 2016)
