Many atomic bomb survivors, known as “hibakusha”, oppose both military and civil use of nuclear power, pointing to the tens of thousands who were killed instantly in the Hiroshima blast and the many more who later died from radiation sickness and cancers linked to the attack.
Anti-nuclear sentiment flared in Japan after an earthquake sparked tsunami left some 19,000 dead or missing and knocked out cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant two years ago.
Meltdowns at the crippled site spread radiation over a large area and forced thousands to leave their homes in the worst atomic disaster in a generation.
Concerns about Fukushima have remained high since the accident. In recent weeks, the plant’s operator Tokyo Electric Power admitted for the first time that radioactive water had leaked into the ocean as it struggles to contain the toxic buildup.
“Eastern Japan is still suffering the aftermath of the great earthquake and the nuclear accident,” Hiroshima’s mayor said Tuesday.
“The people of Hiroshima know well the ordeal of recovery. We urge the national government to rapidly develop and implement a responsible energy policy that places top priority on peoples’ safety and livelihood.”
The administration of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was among the attendees at Tuesday’s memorial event, has advocated restarting Japan’s switched off nuclear reactors if their safety can be assured, a plan opposed by many in the disaster-struck nation.
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