Peace Watch Tower reset to protest U.S. subcritical nuclear test
May 20, 2024
One year after Hiroshima summit
by Minami Yamashita, Staff Writer
Following the third subcritical nuclear test conducted by the United States under the administration of President Joe Biden, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum reset the number displayed on the Peace Watch Tower on May 19. The tower located in the lobby on the first floor of the museum’s east building shows the number of days since the last nuclear test.
Director Yoshifumi Ishida operated the switch at noon, and the digital display of “976,” the number of days since the U.S. subcritical nuclear test on September 16, 2021, was changed to “5,” the number of days since the latest test was conducted on May 14.
May 19 was exactly one year after the opening of the summit of the Group of Seven industrial nations held in Hiroshima. President Biden visited the museum at that time and wrote in the museum’s guestbook, “Together let us continue to make progress toward the day when we can finally and forever rid of the world of nuclear weapons.”
Director Ishida said, “What was the true meaning of his message? I hope he will remember the inhumanity of nuclear weapons that he faced in Hiroshima and change his policy.”
The tower was installed on August 6, 2001. Every time a nuclear test is conducted, the display is reset to zero to protest the test. This is the 29th time the display has been reset.
(Originally published on May 20, 2024)
