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RERF scientist speaks at 3rd Peace Guide General Assembly in Nagasaki

Several groups of peace volunteers—people who work to communicate stories of the Nagasaki atomic-bombing experience to next generations on behalf of A-bomb survivors—recently attended the FY2019 3rd Peace Guide General Assembly (sponsor: Nagasaki Peace Promotion Association). The assembly was held on Saturday, February 8, 2020, at the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum (Heiwa-cho, Nagasaki). For the first time, on this day to an audience of around 70 participants, an RERF researcher was provided the opportunity to speak at the gathering.

Dr. Nori Nakamura, adviser to the RERF Department of Molecular Biosciences, gave a 90-minute lecture titled “ABCC/RERF’s Past and Present.” Dr. Nakamura explained the activities and history of ABCC (Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission—predecessor organization to RERF), research activities and results after transitioning to RERF, and scientific issues RERF anticipates facing in the future.

The participants listened attentively to the lecture and, during the question-and-answer session afterwards, asked Dr. Nakamura numerous questions, many of which were fairly pointed. Unfortunately, the event concluded before all the questions could be answered.

Responding to our invitation following the lecture for participation, many people signed up to take a tour at a later date of Nagasaki RERF. We are grateful that so many showed interest in touring our facilities in Nagasaki.

Later, a spokesperson for the assembly host, Nagasaki Peace Promotion Association, reported back to us. “The lecture will serve as reference for our future activities. Radiation is difficult to understand even with repeated study, and it can be perplexing to explain to others. We thus hope RERF can help us at other events with slightly different themes.”

Nagasaki RERF would like to express our gratitude to everyone involved in the event.