CAIRO - I have Japanese friends here and in Japan. I have offered my support and condolences to them over the nuclear tragedy that has afflicted their country. The latest news is that highly radioactive water has spilled into the ocean off the nuclear power plants, which were seriously damaged by the devastating earthquake and tsunami. Japanese officials have fears that about 25,000 people may have been killed, many of whose bodies have yet to be found. Hundreds of Japanese living in areas threatened with nuclear contamination have been evacuated. Fish and salts in Japan and neighbouring countries will be contaminated for years to come. It will take these countries a long time to recover, even partially. However, I have to question why Japan has deliberately refused to learn the lesson from its history and geographic location. Of all the world's nations, Japan is the most vulnerable to seismic activity, something the Japanese people have got used to. Japan was hit by two atomic bombs in the final stages of the Second World War in 1945. Hungry for power, the technologically advanced Japan later built four nuclear plants. Determined to rise from the ashes of these nuclear attacks over 65 years ago and to compete in the fierce, global post-Second World War race for economic and technological superiority, Japanese scientists refused to use their talents to develop safer and cleaner sources of energy. Regrettably, the tragic memory of the US bombing of Japan in 1945 didn't persuade these scientists to withdraw from the global race to build as many nuclear plants as possible to compensate for conventional sources of energy, especially oil. As the Second World War dragged to a close, the US dropped two atomic bombs on Japan: ‘Little Boy' was dropped on the city of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, followed by the detonation of ‘Fat Man' over the city of Nagasaki three days later. These two events are the only active deployments of nuclear weapons in war to date. As many as 166,000 died in Hiroshima, while in Nagasaki the number was at least 80,000. In both cities, most of the dead were civilians. Many of the survivors were terribly burnt and traumatised. Roughly half of the deaths in each city happened on the first day. About 60 per cent died of flash or flame burns, 30 per cent were killed by falling masonry and the other 10 per cent lost their lives from other causes, such as radiation sickness. The survivors received state-financed medical treatment and pensions. The deadly fallout of these nuclear attacks compelled post-war Japan to forbid the nation from arming itself with nuclear weapons. A few months before it was hit again by a new, albeit unintentional nuclear disaster, Japan marked the 65th anniversary of the US atomic bombing in its two cities. The organisers, including US representatives, called for greater efforts to rid the world of nuclear arms. It was unfortunate that they did not also call for the elimination of nuclear plants and replacing them with safer and cleaner sources of energy. The ceremony was led by the Mayor of Hiroshima, the UN Secretary-General, and nuclear powers France and the UK, making their first official appearance at the annual commemoration. Everybody agreed that the entire world should appreciate ‘the yearning of the survivors for the abolition of nuclear weapons'. Japan could have played a leading role in global nuclear disarmament. No-one attending last year's event could have predicted the disastrous nuclear accident that afflicted a nation that suffered so much 66 years ago.
