US continue to conduct plutonium tests

November 5, 2014

Mayors of Hiroshima, Nagasaki protest against U.S plutonium tests

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20141105p2g00m0dm037000c.html

HIROSHIMA/NAGASAKI, Japan (Kyodo) -- The mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have sent letters to U.S. President Barack Obama protesting reported U.S. plutonium tests in September and October.

Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui in his letter criticized the United States for reportedly conducting the tests using plutonium to examine the capabilities of nuclear weapons, saying, "It is unforgivable as they demonstrate will to maintain nuclear weapons although the tests did not involve nuclear explosions."

Such U.S. tests "will give other countries an excuse to develop nuclear weapons" and make it difficult to realize a world free from nuclear weapons as Obama proposed in 2009.

Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue in his letter urged Obama to take leadership in realizing a nuclear-free world.

Taue, as head of the National Council of Japan Nuclear Free Local Authorities, also mailed a written protest to U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy, saying the tests would nullify efforts by people worldwide to eliminate nuclear weapons.

Hiroshima Gov. Hidehiko Yuzaki sent a similar letter to Obama on the same day.

The cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were devastated by atomic bombs dropped by the United States in 1945 in World War II.