Pugwash Conference in Nagasaki opens to discuss abolition of nuclear weapons
Nov. 2, 2015
by Kyosuke Mizukawa, Staff Writer
The 61st “Pugwash Conference on Science and World Affairs,” held by an international organization of scientists working to eliminate nuclear arms, opened in the city of Nagasaki on November 1. Some 190 scientists, disarmament authorities, and others from 40 nations are participating in the five-day gathering. On the first day of the conference, disarmament officials from nuclear weapon states, together with medical professionals who work with A-bomb survivors, discussed the inhumanity of nuclear weapons and concrete measures for nuclear disarmament.
The first day of the conference, held at the Nagasaki University School of Medicine Memorial Hall, was open to the public. Following an address by Tatsujiro Suzuki, the chairperson of the organizing committee and the director of Nagasaki University’s Research Center for Nuclear Weapons Abolition, who called for “innovative ideas for nuclear elimination,” three plenary sessions were held.
In the session on “Paths Toward a Nuclear-Weapon-Free World,” officials from the United States and Russia, the nuclear superpowers, took the stage. Anita Friedt, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of State, acknowledged that the United States recognizes the inhumane nature of nuclear weapons, but stressed the importance of the nuclear deterrent capability. She emphasized that discussions involving the nuclear powers will not proceed smoothly under either-or circumstances. She also warned against the movement led by non-nuclear weapon states seeking the conclusion of a nuclear weapons convention based on the inhumanity of nuclear arms.
Striking a similar tone, Mikhail Ulyanov, Director of the Department of Non-Proliferation and Arms Control in Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated that arms reductions must be pursued realistically, through step-by-step negotiations, and such negotiations must be grounded on the security provided by nuclear weapons. Representatives of non-nuclear states and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) pushed back against Russia’s statement by saying that the path to a world free of nuclear weapons should be viewed from the perspective of “humanity,” the basic principle of the conference.
In a session on the theme of “inhumanity,” Masao Tomonaga, the honorary director of the Japanese Red Cross Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Hospital, said that, given the data confirming increases in the incidence of leukemia and other cancers among A-bomb survivors, radiation causes significant damage to human genes and the only cure is to completely eradicate nuclear weapons. The creation of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Northeast Asia was also discussed.
This is the first time in 10 years that a Pugwash conference is being held in Japan, following the conference in Hiroshima in 2005, and the first such gathering in Nagasaki. On the second day, the subject for discussion will be “nuclear risks in South Asia.”
(Originally published on November 2, 2015)
The 61st “Pugwash Conference on Science and World Affairs,” held by an international organization of scientists working to eliminate nuclear arms, opened in the city of Nagasaki on November 1. Some 190 scientists, disarmament authorities, and others from 40 nations are participating in the five-day gathering. On the first day of the conference, disarmament officials from nuclear weapon states, together with medical professionals who work with A-bomb survivors, discussed the inhumanity of nuclear weapons and concrete measures for nuclear disarmament.
The first day of the conference, held at the Nagasaki University School of Medicine Memorial Hall, was open to the public. Following an address by Tatsujiro Suzuki, the chairperson of the organizing committee and the director of Nagasaki University’s Research Center for Nuclear Weapons Abolition, who called for “innovative ideas for nuclear elimination,” three plenary sessions were held.
In the session on “Paths Toward a Nuclear-Weapon-Free World,” officials from the United States and Russia, the nuclear superpowers, took the stage. Anita Friedt, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of State, acknowledged that the United States recognizes the inhumane nature of nuclear weapons, but stressed the importance of the nuclear deterrent capability. She emphasized that discussions involving the nuclear powers will not proceed smoothly under either-or circumstances. She also warned against the movement led by non-nuclear weapon states seeking the conclusion of a nuclear weapons convention based on the inhumanity of nuclear arms.
Striking a similar tone, Mikhail Ulyanov, Director of the Department of Non-Proliferation and Arms Control in Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated that arms reductions must be pursued realistically, through step-by-step negotiations, and such negotiations must be grounded on the security provided by nuclear weapons. Representatives of non-nuclear states and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) pushed back against Russia’s statement by saying that the path to a world free of nuclear weapons should be viewed from the perspective of “humanity,” the basic principle of the conference.
In a session on the theme of “inhumanity,” Masao Tomonaga, the honorary director of the Japanese Red Cross Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Hospital, said that, given the data confirming increases in the incidence of leukemia and other cancers among A-bomb survivors, radiation causes significant damage to human genes and the only cure is to completely eradicate nuclear weapons. The creation of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Northeast Asia was also discussed.
This is the first time in 10 years that a Pugwash conference is being held in Japan, following the conference in Hiroshima in 2005, and the first such gathering in Nagasaki. On the second day, the subject for discussion will be “nuclear risks in South Asia.”
(Originally published on November 2, 2015)
