London, 6 August 1995 -- Fifty years after the first nuclear bomb devastated the Japanese city of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 (1), a flotilla of vessels will leave New Zealand today to take part in a Greenpeace peace flotilla protesting France's plans to resume nuclear testing at Moruroa atoll.
The protest flotilla will spearhead dozens of vigils, demonstrations, exhibitions and other activities around the globe to mark the 50th anniversary of the dawn of the nuclear age, and to protest nuclear testing. Greenpeace will be taking part in vigils, protests and commemorative ceremonies in 20 countries around the world.(2)
"The bombing of Hiroshima signalled the beginning of the nuclear age and with it the capacity to destroy life on the planet," said Greenpeace's Anthony Froggatt. "Although no bomb has been used in wartime since 1945, more than 2,000 of them have been exploded in tests in the atmosphere and underground leaving a legacy of human suffering, genetic damage, birth defects and environmental pollution. France's decision to resume testing at Moruroa ensures that the nuclear legacy continues to be a threat to generations to come."(3)
Fifty years later, there are more than 17,000 bombs in the bloated arsenals of the nuclear powers with an explosive power of 6,3487 megatons -- the equivalent of 423,000 Hiroshima bombs.
Greenpeace is calling on international governments to mark the 50th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima by ensuring agreement on a comprehensive test ban treaty banning all explosive nuclear tests permanently by the end of 1995, and to make concrete progress on other nuclear disarmament measures.
"From Hiroshima to Moruroa, the world has quite simply had enough. It is time the nuclear weapon states lived up to their obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty to actively pursue nuclear disarmament and end nuclear testing forever," Froggatt said.
Greenpeace's vessels Rainbow Warrior and MV Greenpeace are currently on their way or preparing to join the international peace flotilla gathering near Moruroa in late August. ==
Contact: Blair Palese, Greenpeace Communications +44171 833 0600
For information about the departure of the flotilla from Auckland: Michael Szabo or Glyn Walters at Greenpeace New Zealand on +64 9 3776 128 or +64 25 790 817
NOTE TO EDITORS:
1. At 8:15 am on August 6th 1945 a uranium bomb, codename "Little Boy" was dropped on Hiroshima, killing 45,000 people instantly. Many of them were vaporised, leaving only their shadows behind. All recorded pregnancies within a two-mile radius of the centre of the blast resulted in miscarriage or stillbirth. Some 4.1 square miles of the city were completely destroyed. Delayed radiation effects including increased cancer rates put the final estimated death toll of the Hiroshima bomb at around 200,000 people.
Three days later, on August 9th, a plutonium bomb codename "Fat Man" was exploded over Nagasaki. There were 22,000 immediate casualties, with an estimated final death toll of around 100,000 people.
Historical evidence shows that the overwhelming military advice given to the United States President Truman was that the use of atomic bombs was not necessary to end the war - the Japanese had already made two attempts to surrender.
2. Greenpeace is taking part in Hiroshima Day protests or commemorations in 20 countries: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada/Quebec, Chile, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States.
3. As of mid-1995, the U.S., Russia, the UK, France, and China, have conducted 2,035 nuclear tests. France is poised to resume nuclear testing in September and China countries to do so. The U.S., Russia and France all work on ways to simulate testing in order to better maintain their arsenals without testing.