Public organizations of survivors of the American atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as well as the mayors of these cities protested in connection with the conduct of the US "subcritical" test at a nuclear test site in Nevada, reported Ag. Kyodo.
Written protests were sent to US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel and US President Joe Biden. In particular, Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui called the US actions unforgivable. “This goes against the wishes of many people who want the abolition of nuclear weapons,” he said.
"The Subcritical" experiment was conducted on May 14. The US Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) maintains that the current and 33 subcritical tests that preceded it do not violate the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. In February 2024, NNSA Administrator Jill Hruby stated that the United States remains prepared to conduct underground nuclear tests.
The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were carried out by the United States at the very end of World War II with the officially declared purpose of hastening Japan's surrender. These are the only examples in the history of mankind of the combat use of nuclear weapons. As a result of the explosion of a bomb dropped on Hiroshima, in one day, according to various estimates, 70,000 to 100,000 people died. By the end of 1945, the death toll rose to 140,000 due to those dying in hospitals from their wounds and exposure. The total number of victims currently exceeds 350,000.