Protest letter against the US subcritical nuclear test (October 13, 2010)

October 13, 2010

His Excellency Mr. Barack Obama
President
The United States of America

His Excellency Mr. John V. Roos
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
of the United States of America
Embassy of the United States of America in Japan

Letter of Protest

I understand that the United States of America conducted its 24th subcritical nuclear test at the test site in Nevada on September 15.

The A-bomb survivors, along with the vast majority of the world’s citizens, wish for the total abolition of nuclear weapons. You aroused great expectations in us with your Prague speech in April of last year, and you have consistently spoken eloquently for a world without nuclear weapons. Just this past August, Ambassador Roos became the first US ambassador to attend the Peace Memorial Ceremony in Hiroshima. Thus, we were under the impression that the United States had come to fully understand the most cherished wish of the people of Hiroshima.

At the NPT Review Conference last May, the NPT states parties, including the nuclear weapon states, decided by consensus to take concrete action towards the abolition of nuclear weapons. And yet the United States, the country that should be spearheading this effort, has conducted a subcritical nuclear test. I am outraged by your trampling on the expectations and hopes of the A-bomb survivors and the vast majority of Earth’s inhabitants, and, on behalf of the A-bombed city of Hiroshima, I vehemently protest.

A subcritical nuclear test leading to the development of new nuclear weapons runs counter to the spirit of CTBT, which you are working to ratify.

I hereby demand that the United States, the rightful leader of the effort to free the world from nuclear weapons, halt all nuclear testing, including subcritical testing, as well as any actions related to the development of nuclear weapons. Moreover, I urge you to visit Hiroshima, our Peace Memorial Museum and Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims at the earliest possible date to encounter the legacy of the atomic bombing, witness the devastation wrought by the bombing, and understand the experience of the A-bomb survivors, who chose the path of reconciliation over the path of retaliation.

Mr. President, I urge you to commit yourself fully to achieving a world without nuclear weapons before it is too late.

Tadatoshi Akiba
Mayor
The City of Hiroshima