80th Anniversary of the Atomic Bombing and the Problem of Nuclear Power -Nukes and Humanity Cannot Coexist
By Kaneko Tetsuo, Gensuikin Peace Forum Chair
Starting from Affirming the “Peaceful Use” of Nuclear Energy
“We have renewed our determination that the prohibition of atomic and hydrogen bombs must surely be realized, that the forces plotting atomic wars must be crushed, and that nuclear power must be given to mankind for their well-being and prosperity.” These words formed part of the declaration of the First World Conference against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs, held in August 1955. The movement to ban the hydrogen bomb was seeking the long-awaited rosy future envisioned by Moritaki Ichiro, starting from recognition of the “peaceful use” of the atom. The “Greetings to the World” declaration from the founding conference of the Japan Confederation of A- and H- Bomb Sufferers Organizations, which was established the following August, appealed for the hope that the “peaceful use” of nuclear energy could be achieved, saying “The only way for us to survive is to turn nuclear power, which it is feared will proceed in the direction of death and destruction, decisively in the direction of humanity’s well-being and prosperity.”
Moritaki Ichiro, who drafted the “Greetings to the World,” later recounted, “Thinking about it now, the fantasy that such a wonderful future could be brought forth even for the survivors of the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, who underwent the most miserable experience of the “military use” of nuclear power, if it were just used peacefully leaves me so embarrassed, I could crawl into a hole.”
“If nuclear-powered aircraft carriers are dangerous, what about nuclear power plants?”
It was the Japan National Conference against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs (Gensuikin) chapter in Niigata Prefecture, where local residents had been campaigning against the construction of nuclear power plants (NPPs), that brought up this issue. At that time, opposition to the entry into Japan’s waters of the US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Enterprise had become a major movement in Japan. This had the character of an anti-nuclear movement opposed to the danger of nuclear reactors being carried aboard nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, as well as an anti-war movement, against Japan being made into a “base for sorties to the Vietnam War.” Therefore, the Niigata Gensuikin representative brought up the question of “If nuclear-powered aircraft carriers are dangerous then wouldn’t nuclear power itself be dangerous?”
Gensuikin was then going through a period when it had little information about how NPPs worked and what dangers were involved, so it was starting to seek it out. Though it was fumbling around, what was important was that it had an attitude of taking issues raised by the local community and facing them seriously. This attitude was born in the wake of the Bikini hydrogen bomb test, when a liaison meeting was formed to link together signature-gathering initiatives that had arisen in each region to oppose the testing. It was the same style of movement as that which planned and held the World Conference against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs. I think it would be fair to call the attitude of taking locally based movements seriously a Gensuikin asset that has been handed down to the present time, together with the straightforward attitude Moritaki Ichiro showed in admitting that his dream of the peaceful use of nuclear power was a frank mistake, as noted above.
The first time “the issue of the peaceful use of nuclear energy” was addressed by the World Conference against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs, given the issues raised by the Niigata Gensuikin, was at their conference in 1969, the 24th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Japan. At this conference, a resolution against the establishment of nuclear fuel reprocessing plants was adopted, and in November that year, the first “meeting for anti-nuclear activists” was held in Kashiwazaki City, Niigata Prefecture. The first time “Han Gempatsu” (“No nukes”) was brought up as a slogan for the World Conference against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs was at the conference on the 26th anniversary of the atomic bombing, with the movement’s policy clearly stating, “We oppose the establishment of nuclear power plants and fuel reprocessing facilities for which there is no guarantee of safety,” and a subcommittee on nuclear power and reprocessing was established the following year. Through this kind of progress, citizens who had become anti-nuclear activists in various parts of the country came to participate in subsequent Gensuikin conferences.
The “Peaceful Use of the Atom” Deception
The same year that Gensuikin adopted “No nukes” as its slogan, Moritaki Ichiro travelled to the US and Europe to participate in anti-nuclear peace marches, appealing at an anti-war rally in the US for tactical nuclear weapons not to be used in Vietnam. In addition, he visited scholars concerned about radioactive pollution and NPPs in the US and Europe, listening to their opinions on “radiation hazards associated with the peaceful use of nuclear power” and gathering information. In particular, he was greatly influenced by the words of Dr. Linus Pauling of Stanford University in the US, who told him that for exposure doses “There is no ‘threshold,’ that is, no ‘allowance’ of any sort. At the very least, it will lead to genetic issues.”
After that, many of the scientists whom he had met during his trip participated in the World Conference against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs and lent their abilities to helping build the basic rationale for opposition to nuclear power. Of course, it has not only been scientists from abroad revealing the deception of “the peaceful use of the atom.” Moritaki began interacting with young researchers and physicists who were aware of the problem that there were no guarantees of safety with nuclear power and that the dangers of radioactive materials had not been thoroughly elucidated. This strengthened the movement’s links with community activities and made the anti-nuke movement an additional main theme for the National Conference against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs
“Nukes and Humanity Cannot Coexist”
At the same time that Gensuikin began addressing the “NPP issue,” we were confronted with the victims of the nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands that took place on 1 March 1954. A delegation representing Micronesia participated in the Gensuikin conference on the 26th anniversary of the atomic bombing (1971). In response to their request, Gensuikin dispatched a delegation to Micronesia that December to investigate the people’s radiation exposure. Thus began our cooperation and interaction with the nuclear victims in the South Pacific. Then, at the Conference for a Nuclear-free Pacific, held in Fiji in 1975, we heard testimony that became the “final push” (in Moritaki Ichiro’s words) for Gensuikin to establish the principles of “nukes and humanity cannot coexist” and “absolute rejection of nukes.”
An Aborigine woman from Australia gave the following account. “The uranium mine is on land sacred to our ancestors. That sacred land was taken from us. Our lack of knowledge was taken advantage of, and we were sent to work for low wages in the most dangerous locations for uranium excavation.” At the Nuclear-Free and Independent Pacific Conference, participants discussed the topic of “the most difficult problem in the name of the peaceful use of the atom is the ultimate disposal of radioactive waste,” sharing the fear that a place would be sought in the Pacific Ocean for disposing of the most problematic radioactive wastes. In this way, we learned that nuclear victims are created throughout “nuclear society,” starting with uranium mining and ending with disposal of radioactive waste—from which we got Hiroshima, Nagasaki, nuclear testing and nuclear power. Thus, at the World Conference against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs that year, on the 30th anniversary of the atomic bombing, the principles of “nukes and humanity cannot coexist” and “absolute rejection of nukes” were established.
A Nuclear Society is Established by Sacrificing the Vulnerable
Regarding his thoughts on the principles of “nukes and humanity cannot coexist” and “absolute rejection of nukes,” Moritaki Ichiro said the following in his keynote speech, titled, “From a Civilization of Power to a Civilization of Love” at the First Global Radiation Victims Conference, held in 1987.
“The development and use of nuclear technology, whether for military or peaceful purposes, is always fraught with the possibility of radiation damage. At all stages of the so-called “nuclear fuel cycle,” from uranium mining to radioactive waste treatment, there is the potential for radiation damage. When that happens, the victims are often found among the weak or the oppressed, who face discrimination. The development and use of nuclear technology is based structurally on discrimination and oppression.”
“Nukes and humanity cannot coexist” was taken up in Hiroshima City’s “Peace Declaration” on 6 August 2011, just after the nuclear accident at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s NPP in Fukushima. Additionally, in his acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize in December last year, Secretary General Tanaka Terumi, of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, also stated this key phrase. On this 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings, however, I would like to stress once again that the phrase “nukes and humanity cannot coexist,” as one of Gensuikin’s basic principles, refers not only to nuclear weapons and NPP accidents, but also to a strong desire to stand together with the vulnerable people who are constantly forced to suffer in our “nuclear society”—the very emblem of power—and to renounce the nuclear society itself.
