<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By Kaneko Tetsuo, Gensuikin Peace Forum Chair<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Starting from Affirming the \u201cPeaceful Use\u201d of Nuclear Energy<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cWe 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.\u201d 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 \u201cpeaceful use\u201d of the atom. The \u201cGreetings to the World\u201d 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 \u201cpeaceful use\u201d of nuclear energy could be achieved, saying \u201cThe 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\u2019s well-being and prosperity.\u201d<\/p>\n Moritaki Ichiro, who drafted the \u201cGreetings to the World,\u201d later recounted, \u201cThinking 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 \u201cmilitary use\u201d of nuclear power, if it were just used peacefully leaves me so embarrassed, I could crawl into a hole.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf nuclear-powered aircraft carriers are dangerous, what about nuclear power plants?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n 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\u2019s 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 \u201cbase for sorties to the Vietnam War.\u201d Therefore, the Niigata Gensuikin representative brought up the question of \u201cIf nuclear-powered aircraft carriers are dangerous then wouldn\u2019t nuclear power itself be dangerous?\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n The first time \u201cthe issue of the peaceful use of nuclear energy\u201d 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 \u201cmeeting for anti-nuclear activists\u201d was held in Kashiwazaki City, Niigata Prefecture. The first time \u201cHan Gempatsu\u201d (\u201cNo nukes\u201d) 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, \u201cWe oppose the establishment of nuclear power plants and fuel reprocessing facilities for which there is no guarantee of safety,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The \u201cPeaceful Use of the Atom\u201d Deception<\/strong><\/p>\n The same year that Gensuikin adopted \u201cNo nukes\u201d 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 \u201cradiation hazards associated with the peaceful use of nuclear power\u201d 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 \u201cThere is no \u2018threshold,\u2019 that is, no \u2018allowance\u2019 of any sort. At the very least, it will lead to genetic issues.\u201d<\/p>\n 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 \u201cthe peaceful use of the atom.\u201d 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\u2019s links with community activities and made the anti-nuke movement an additional main theme for the National Conference against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cNukes and Humanity Cannot Coexist\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n At the same time that Gensuikin began addressing the \u201cNPP issue,\u201d 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\u2019s 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 \u201cfinal push\u201d (in Moritaki Ichiro\u2019s words) for Gensuikin to establish the principles of \u201cnukes and humanity cannot coexist\u201d and \u201cabsolute rejection of nukes.\u201d<\/p>\n An Aborigine woman from Australia gave the following account. \u201cThe 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.\u201d At the Nuclear-Free and Independent Pacific Conference, participants discussed the topic of \u201cthe most difficult problem in the name of the peaceful use of the atom is the ultimate disposal of radioactive waste,\u201d 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 \u201cnuclear society,\u201d starting with uranium mining and ending with disposal of radioactive waste\u2014from 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 \u201cnukes and humanity cannot coexist\u201d and \u201cabsolute rejection of nukes\u201d were established.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n A Nuclear Society is Established by Sacrificing the Vulnerable<\/strong><\/p>\n Regarding his thoughts on the principles of \u201cnukes and humanity cannot coexist\u201d and \u201cabsolute rejection of nukes,\u201d Moritaki Ichiro said the following in his keynote speech, titled, \u201cFrom a Civilization of Power to a Civilization of Love\u201d at the First Global Radiation Victims Conference, held in 1987.<\/p>\n \u201cThe 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 \u201cnuclear fuel cycle,\u201d 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.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNukes and humanity cannot coexist\u201d was taken up in Hiroshima City\u2019s \u201cPeace Declaration\u201d on 6 August 2011, just after the nuclear accident at Tokyo Electric Power Co.\u2019s 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 \u201cnukes and humanity cannot coexist,\u201d as one of Gensuikin\u2019s 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 \u201cnuclear society\u201d\u2014the very emblem of power\u2014and to renounce the nuclear society itself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Kaneko Tetsuo, Gensuikin Peace Forum Chair \u00a0 Starting from Affirming the \u201cPeaceful Use\u201d of Nuclear Energy \u201cWe have renewed our determination that the prohibition of atomic and hydrogen bombs must surely be realized,...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history-of-anti-nuclear-movement"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8615"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8615\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8645,"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8615\/revisions\/8645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}