RERF narrows potential relocation sites to Hiroshima University Kasumi campus
Jun. 29, 2022
by Junji Akechi, Staff Writer
On June 28, the Radiation Effects Research Foundation (RERF), a scientific organization jointly managed by the governments of Japan and the United States and currently located in Hijiyama Hill Park in Hiroshima’s Minami Ward, announced it had narrowed its potential sites for relocation to Hiroshima University’s Kasumi campus, in the city’s Minami Ward. The research organization seems to have concluded that the Kasumi campus location has significant benefits in terms of enhancing research collaboration with the university, and so on, when compared with Hiroshima City’s General Health Center, located in the city’s Naka Ward, which had been the other candidate site.
According to the people familiar with the matter, RERF’s Board of Councilors, a deliberative body consisting of a total of eight Japanese and American specialists, held an online meeting linking venues in Japan and the United States on the two days of June 23 and 24th. At the meeting, the decision was made to select Hiroshima University’s Kasumi campus as the sole candidate site. As the plan moves forward, issues are expected to include how to go about securing the necessary budget for the relocation from the governments of Japan and the United States.
In 2016, the Hiroshima City government proposed that RERF be relocated to the General Health Center, given the Japan national government’s opinion that building a new facility would be difficult due to the high cost. In 2019, a commissioned study reported that RERF’s move to the center would be “feasible.”
Hiroshima University’s Kasumi campus, home to the Hiroshima University Hospital and the Research Institute for Radiation Biology and Medicine (RIRBM), surfaced as a new candidate site in 2020. The university welcomed the decision based on the idea that RERF would become “a strong partner in collaborative work.” The Hijiyama research organization had been comparing the two sites in terms of advantages with respect to the conduct of research, relocation costs, and the necessary equipment and facilities.
The Hiroshima City government has announced its plans to reorganize RERF’s current site and the entire Hijiyama Hill Park area, based on the premise of a successful relocation of RERF, into the “Hill for Peace.” The city has therefore requested that RERF move to a new location in timely fashion.
(Originally published on June 29, 2022)
On June 28, the Radiation Effects Research Foundation (RERF), a scientific organization jointly managed by the governments of Japan and the United States and currently located in Hijiyama Hill Park in Hiroshima’s Minami Ward, announced it had narrowed its potential sites for relocation to Hiroshima University’s Kasumi campus, in the city’s Minami Ward. The research organization seems to have concluded that the Kasumi campus location has significant benefits in terms of enhancing research collaboration with the university, and so on, when compared with Hiroshima City’s General Health Center, located in the city’s Naka Ward, which had been the other candidate site.
According to the people familiar with the matter, RERF’s Board of Councilors, a deliberative body consisting of a total of eight Japanese and American specialists, held an online meeting linking venues in Japan and the United States on the two days of June 23 and 24th. At the meeting, the decision was made to select Hiroshima University’s Kasumi campus as the sole candidate site. As the plan moves forward, issues are expected to include how to go about securing the necessary budget for the relocation from the governments of Japan and the United States.
In 2016, the Hiroshima City government proposed that RERF be relocated to the General Health Center, given the Japan national government’s opinion that building a new facility would be difficult due to the high cost. In 2019, a commissioned study reported that RERF’s move to the center would be “feasible.”
Hiroshima University’s Kasumi campus, home to the Hiroshima University Hospital and the Research Institute for Radiation Biology and Medicine (RIRBM), surfaced as a new candidate site in 2020. The university welcomed the decision based on the idea that RERF would become “a strong partner in collaborative work.” The Hijiyama research organization had been comparing the two sites in terms of advantages with respect to the conduct of research, relocation costs, and the necessary equipment and facilities.
The Hiroshima City government has announced its plans to reorganize RERF’s current site and the entire Hijiyama Hill Park area, based on the premise of a successful relocation of RERF, into the “Hill for Peace.” The city has therefore requested that RERF move to a new location in timely fashion.
(Originally published on June 29, 2022)
