Inhumane behavior is entirely unacceptable
Mar. 5, 2022
by Uzaemonnaotsuka Tokai, Senior Staff Writer
The increasingly tense situation unfolding in Ukraine has entered dangerous and unpredictable territory. On March 4, Russian military forces attacked a nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine. Russia’s attack on a nuclear power plant in operation is unprecedented. It would be extremely dangerous if Russia simply did not care about causing radiation damage when it bombed the power plant. A-bombed Hiroshima has consistently delivered the message that nuclear weapons and human beings cannot coexist. Russia’s barbarous behavior whereby the country continues to ignore the inhumanity of the devastation caused by radiation and to threaten the world with nuclear weapons is entirely unacceptable.
In the first place, Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions prohibits attacks against nuclear power plants. Russia’s latest attack apparently did not affect the core facilities at the power plant. But, had the plant’s electrical system been destroyed, the attack could have resulted in a meltdown of the kind that occurred at the Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Fukushima No. 1 (Daiichi) nuclear power plant.
The durability of the designs of nuclear power plants that started operations during the former Soviet era, including the recently attacked plant, is known to be insufficient. If such plants were to be directly attacked with missiles, control of their operations could quickly be lost. The Putin regime must have been aware of that risk.
Why then did Russian forces attack the nuclear power plant? The attack must have been intentional, since it was reported that several bombs landed in the vicinity of the plant. Russia appeared to want to intimidate the world by deliberately hitting places that would not result in direct damage to the reactors. Russia has also gained control of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Those acts are equivalent to Russia taking radioactive materials hostage with the desire to threaten the global community.
It constitutes a declaration that Russia will use every means possible to force the Ukrainian government to surrender.
“The behavior defies accepted norms,” said Tatsujiro Suzuki, 70, vice director of the Research Center for Nuclear Weapons Abolition at Nagasaki University. Russia has already placed its nuclear forces on high alert. The country has also reportedly used cluster munitions, inhumane weapons banned by the convention on cluster munitions. Mr. Suzuki warned, “The risk exists that Russia might try in the future to threaten the world by using small nuclear weapons on uninhabited areas.”
Although tensions mount in the region, the international community should remain calm. Countering force with force would only spur the creation of a calamity. Ceasefire negotiations are underway, and hopes are that diplomatic efforts will bring an end to the conflict. International debate is necessary concerning the risks inherent in nuclear power plants during a conflict and how such risks should be managed.
The cities in Japan that experienced the atomic bombings have a critical role to play. In addition to calling for the elimination of nuclear weapons, A-bomb survivors have continued to plead the case that no one else should ever have to experience the tragedy they lived through. They continue to cooperate with those suffering from aftereffects due to radiation exposure in Chernobyl, the Marshall Islands, and elsewhere.
Considering what the world is now witnessing, the message conveying the extremely inhumane nature of radiation damage needs to be reinforced. More people must be made aware of everyone’s responsibility to learn from past tragedy.
(Originally published on March 5, 2022)
The increasingly tense situation unfolding in Ukraine has entered dangerous and unpredictable territory. On March 4, Russian military forces attacked a nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine. Russia’s attack on a nuclear power plant in operation is unprecedented. It would be extremely dangerous if Russia simply did not care about causing radiation damage when it bombed the power plant. A-bombed Hiroshima has consistently delivered the message that nuclear weapons and human beings cannot coexist. Russia’s barbarous behavior whereby the country continues to ignore the inhumanity of the devastation caused by radiation and to threaten the world with nuclear weapons is entirely unacceptable.
In the first place, Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions prohibits attacks against nuclear power plants. Russia’s latest attack apparently did not affect the core facilities at the power plant. But, had the plant’s electrical system been destroyed, the attack could have resulted in a meltdown of the kind that occurred at the Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Fukushima No. 1 (Daiichi) nuclear power plant.
The durability of the designs of nuclear power plants that started operations during the former Soviet era, including the recently attacked plant, is known to be insufficient. If such plants were to be directly attacked with missiles, control of their operations could quickly be lost. The Putin regime must have been aware of that risk.
Why then did Russian forces attack the nuclear power plant? The attack must have been intentional, since it was reported that several bombs landed in the vicinity of the plant. Russia appeared to want to intimidate the world by deliberately hitting places that would not result in direct damage to the reactors. Russia has also gained control of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Those acts are equivalent to Russia taking radioactive materials hostage with the desire to threaten the global community.
It constitutes a declaration that Russia will use every means possible to force the Ukrainian government to surrender.
“The behavior defies accepted norms,” said Tatsujiro Suzuki, 70, vice director of the Research Center for Nuclear Weapons Abolition at Nagasaki University. Russia has already placed its nuclear forces on high alert. The country has also reportedly used cluster munitions, inhumane weapons banned by the convention on cluster munitions. Mr. Suzuki warned, “The risk exists that Russia might try in the future to threaten the world by using small nuclear weapons on uninhabited areas.”
Although tensions mount in the region, the international community should remain calm. Countering force with force would only spur the creation of a calamity. Ceasefire negotiations are underway, and hopes are that diplomatic efforts will bring an end to the conflict. International debate is necessary concerning the risks inherent in nuclear power plants during a conflict and how such risks should be managed.
The cities in Japan that experienced the atomic bombings have a critical role to play. In addition to calling for the elimination of nuclear weapons, A-bomb survivors have continued to plead the case that no one else should ever have to experience the tragedy they lived through. They continue to cooperate with those suffering from aftereffects due to radiation exposure in Chernobyl, the Marshall Islands, and elsewhere.
Considering what the world is now witnessing, the message conveying the extremely inhumane nature of radiation damage needs to be reinforced. More people must be made aware of everyone’s responsibility to learn from past tragedy.
(Originally published on March 5, 2022)
