Survivors of the 1954 U.S. hydrogen bomb test at Bikini Atoll joined forces with peace activists on Saturday to repeat demands for the elimination of nuclear arms ahead of the 50th anniversary of the deadly experiment.
On March 1, 1954, the blast from the U.S. hydrogen bomb "Bravo" irradiated residents of Rongelap Island, near Bikini Atoll, as well as the 23-strong crew of the 140-ton trawler Fukuryu Maru No. 5, also known as the Lucky Dragon, from Yaizu, Shizuoka Prefecture, as they were fishing for tuna some 160 km east of the test site.
Surviving crew members of the Lucky Dragon and the peace campaigners are conducting a series of anniversary events, including symposiums and a civil tribunal to determine who is responsible for the irradiation incident, in the cities of Shizuoka and Yaizu, with the aim of ensuring that people do not forget the tragedy of a half-century ago.
In Shizuoka on Saturday, former fishermen, scientists and journalists took part in a symposium on current nuclear issues worldwide.