U.S. subcritical nuclear test under fire in Hiroshima, Nagasaki+

TOKYO, Oct. 13 Kyodo -
A recent U.S. subcritical nuclear test came under harsh fire in the world's
only atom-bombed cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on Wednesday, with Hiroshima
Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba expressing his anger at the test, the first under
President Barack Obama, who has called for a world without nuclear weapons.
''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,'' Akiba said in his letter to
Obama, which was made available to the press.
''A subcritical nuclear test leading to the development of new nuclear weapons
runs counter to the spirit of the CTBT (Complete Nuclear Test Ban Treaty),
which you are working to ratify,'' he said.
The subcritical nuclear test under President Obama clearly came as a shock to
the mayor, who has supported Obama and initiated an anti-nuclear campaign using
the president's name.
Citing the first ever participation by the U.S. ambassador to Japan in an
annual memorial service in August for victims of the A-bomb that targeted
Hiroshima, Akiba renewed his request for Obama to visit Hiroshima.
Hiroshima Prefecture Gov. Hidehiko Yuzaki also sent a letter of protest to the
U.S. president.
Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue and Nagasaki Prefecture Gov. Hodo Nakamura will
also send letters of protest over the first U.S. subcritical nuclear test since
August 2006, which took place in Nevada on Sept. 15, according to the U.S.
Energy Department on Tuesday.
''I fear and am concerned that the test, which runs counter to a march toward a
world free from nuclear weapons, will adversely affect the international
situation,'' Taue said in a statement. ''The atom-bombed city will send a
letter of protest to the United States and persist in our efforts for the
elimination of nuclear weapons.''
''I deeply deplore the test because I had expected President Obama to take
leadership in eliminating nuclear weapons,'' Nakamura told a press conference.
Five anti-nuclear organizations in Nagasaki sent a message to President Obama,
denouncing the nuclear test and demanding that the United States immediately
suspend all nuclear tests and shut down all nuclear test sites.
In protest at the test, Nagasaki and Hiroshima citizens, including atomic
bombing survivors, launched sit-ins.
At a sit-in by some 40 people at Nagasaki Peace Park, Koichi Kawano, chairman
of the Japan Congress against A- and H-Bombs, said the organization opposes any
nuclear test and is determined to continue its antinuclear activities until
nuclear weapons are eliminated.
About 50 people, including members of the Hiroshima Council of A-Bomb Sufferers
Organizations, took part in a sit-in at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. ''We
cannot tolerate the U.S. action that betrayed the president's promise to pursue
a world without nuclear weapons,'' the council's Deputy Director General Yukio
Yoshioka said after the sit-in.
==Kyodo