NAGASAKI--In an Aug. 9 peace declaration to be delivered by Tomihisa Taue, the Nagasaki mayor plans to promote a shift to non-nuclear renewable energy sources for Japan, according to an outline of his declaration released July 28.
NAGASAKI--In an Aug. 9 peace declaration to be delivered by Tomihisa Taue, the Nagasaki mayor plans to promote a shift to non-nuclear renewable energy sources for Japan, according to an outline of his declaration released July 28.
The declaration will be delivered on the 66th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of the Kyushu port city in the closing days of World War II.
Although the outline states the importance of alternative energy sources from nuclear energy, it did not use the word "denuclearization." It is the first time Nagasaki has mentioned a departure from nuclear power in its annual peace declaration.
In the past, the city's declaration included expectations for peaceful uses of nuclear energy, which "would contribute to people's welfare."
However, Nagasaki has apparently turned its policy toward departure from dependence on nuclear energy after the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. The crisis has prompted Prime Minister Naoto Kan and some prefectural governors to support a policy toward denuclearization.
The declaration will call for the development of alternative energy sources and a shift to safer energy sources than nuclear power, according to the outline.
"It is our sincere hope that no more hibakusha (atomic bomb victims) will appear in the world," Mayor Taue said at a news conference on July 28. "Our ultimate goal is to realize a 'nuclear-power-plant-zero society.'"
There was a time, soon after the city was bombed, when the people of Nagasaki anticipated a peaceful use of nuclear power as a reaction against the enormous damage they suffered. The death toll from the Aug. 9, 1945, bombing totaled 73,884, with an additional 74,909 injured as of the end of December 1945.
The declaration will include a warning about the inhumanity of nuclear weapons.
Taue will also call for legalization of Japan's three non-nuclear principles: not possessing, not producing and not permitting the introduction of nuclear weapons into Japan, as well as the promotion of welfare for atomic bomb survivors.