Scientists hold antinuke confab in Shizuoka

Aug. 2, Kyodo - Scientists held an annual forum Monday in Shizuoka, central Japan, on scientists' roles in realizing a world free of nuclear weapons.

Some 150 people, including some from Russia, attended the 12th Scientists Forum of World Conference Against A and H Bombs held at Shizuoka University.

Shoji Sawada, honorary professor in physics at Nagoya University, told the gathering of his experiences as a survivor of the U.S. atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945.

Hajime Kikima, a medical doctor, and Masayoshi Naito, a lawyer, spoke about the crew members of the Lucky Dragon No. 5, a tuna-fishing boat, who were exposed to radioactivity from a U.S. hydrogen bomb test while fishing in 1954 in the Pacific near Bikini Atoll, the test site.

They said the governmental seamen's insurance should cover the 23 crew members of the boat.

The boat's home port was Yaizu in Shizuoka Prefecture.

The exposure -- nine years after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki -- effectively triggered various kinds of antinuclear movements across Japan.

The scientists' forum began in 1987 and is linked with the Japan Council Against A and H Bombs (Gensuikyo), backed by the Japanese Communist Party.

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