Victims of the bomb

An interview with PROFESSOR NISHIWAKI

‘oN March 17 we received an

urgent call in our laboratory
to examine the cargo of the fish-
boat Fuaguryu Maru immediate-
ly." With this simple statement
of fact Professor Yasushi Nishi-
Waki of the Institute for Radio
Physics in Osaka, opened a lec-
ture he gave recently at Quaker
House in Vienna.

But this was no ordinary lec-
ture, Professor Nishiwaki was
dealing with one of the most por-
“entous events of our times —
ae US. explosion of a hydrogen
nee at Bikini last year — and
re story he related was one that
alarmed the world.

Professor Nishiwaki was the
fet to come into’ contact with
€ crew, 25 in all, of the ill-
Named Fuakuryu Maru (Fortun-
ate Dragon),
aerate he examined the cargo

fish, part of which had already
en taken off and eated by some
b People. He found the fish to
€ highly radioactive.
aieen he checked the boat
ne f, the méasuring instruments
weed Strong radiation at a

ance of 30 metres. From one
etre away, the strength of
eee radiation was beyond the
eng capacity of the in-
Tuments. It was therefore im-
Possible to go on board without

st donning’ protective gloves
and masks,

*

the otessor Nishiwaki recounted
€ dramatic and terrible report
Slven by the fishermen.
aon March 1, at about 3 o’clock
4 the morning, the fishermen
ee Just hauling in their nets,
ace they saw a great ball of fire
m €nding on the horizon. Im-
aeuiately afterward huge clouds
dammed: These at first were of a
“ling white, but they rapidly
aoe’ colored and were soon
™Mmering in all the colors of
like rainbow. There was a noise
€ that made by a falling bomb.

ut an hour-and-a-half later”

fens dust began to fall from
nee like snow. At times this
nor cell so thickly that one could
ae See one’s hand before one’s

©. It covered the whole shop.
tien fishermen experienced a
Stine feeling in the eyes and a

ng sensation of heat on the

skin — th ms of
Poisoning e first symptoms 0

tng body eould explain where

rai Ust came from. When the
hain, of dust had ceased, the cap-
Be Ordered the, ship to be clean-

oe it was already too late.
eats Tadioactive dust had already
shi n into the metal parts of the
Ss specially the cables which
€ smeared with oil.
stil premnants of this dust were
bria ‘o be found on the captain’s
out A gram of this dust gave
empi 4 Curie radioactivity (when
Ge heat radioactive substances
dilie €dical purposes the largest
- fehunistered to a patient is
unit) Ousandth of a Curie
thie Professor Nishiwaki stated,
. rat can have far more dead-
given ects than the direct rays
Out on the explosion of the
thous, because it cam be carried
Se of miles by the wind.
fishermen ue, the first night the
contami felt the first results of
burnin ination; a strong. sense of
‘ ‘A Siddiness and sickness.
pk ays later blisters appear-
caused ae skin, similar to those
of the y burns, and some parts
h Skin became discolored.
out ma their hair began to fall
t first the fishermen joked
theiy _ But when the skin on
With it alps began to come away
they Were horrified.

fter the ship had entered ~

One of the fishermen, Kuboy-
ama, the radio operator, came
from Hiroshima and _ therefore

-knew from his own experience

the \ first symptoms of sickness
resulting from atom-bomb  ex-
plosions. _He was the first to
realize their danger. There was
only one possibility of rescue: to

\

proceed with all speed to a port
where they could get medical at-
tention.

But radioactivity cannot be
eliminated from the human body.

In the first place the substances
forming the bones are affected
by radioactivity. Slowly but in-
exorably the marrow in the

Eight Japanese girls who were disfigured as a result of
the A-bomb blast at Hiroshima are shown (top) as they arrived
in Tokyo to undergo plastic surgery. Another victim, Kyoshin
Kikkawa (centre), still suffered from hideous burns two years
after the blast when this picture was taken. The incomparably
greater H-bomb blast at Bikini showered radioactive dust over
the 28 crew members of the Fortunate Dragon, two of whom
are shown (boitom), dooming some if not all of them to a slow

death.

- when the rain of dust fell.

bones, which forms the blood
corpuscles, is destroyed.

It was this deadly radiation
sickness that claimed Kukoyama,
the radio operator, as its first
victim.

One of the fishermen had the
good fortune to be below deck
His
hair did in fact show signs of
radioactivity, but had not yet
fallen out. There was nothing
else for it but to shave his head
completely in an effort to pre-
vent the radioactivity spreading
to his whole body. :

Japanese scientists noted with
apprehension that ever larger
areas of the sea had been found
radioactive and that the death
zone was approaching closer to
the coast of Japan.

Originally the area that ships
were warned not to approach was
limited to about 500 miles from
the scene of the explosion. But
in April ‘a 20,000-ton whaling ves-
sel which was nearly 1,200 miles
from the scene of the explosion
became strongly contaminated
with radioactivity.

In May radioactive fish were
found at a distance of nearly
2,500 miles away.

For some time a high percent-
age of the fish caught by Japa-
nese fishing boats had to be de-
stroyed because they were con-
taminated by radioactivity.

Not only did the fishing indus-
try suffer heavy economic losses,
but the lives of the people were
imperilled, for fish is their staple
diet. :

Observing extraordinary pre-
cautions, the fish was buried
in areas where there was no
chance of its coming into contact
with ground water. It was found
that even the railway wagons in
which the fish was conveyed be-
came contaminated.

The only thing to be done was
to carry out a strict check-up of
the entire Japanese fishing fleet,
totalling 446,000 vessels.

*

’ The Japanese people, on whom
the experience of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki has left an indelible
impression, had no sooner begun
to reassure themselves that the

danger had been removed than it -

appeared in a new form. ° <

On April 17 rain fell in Osaka.
After the rain, it was found that
many window-panes thhad become
opaque. Measurements showed
that the rain was radioactive.
The Geiger counter (the record-
ing instrument used) indicated
up to 140 impulses per litre per
minute. Under normal condi-
tions the natural radioactivity of
rain causes at the most 20 im-
pulses per litre per minute.

In the middle of May there
were more strongly radioactive
rainfalls. This time the Geiger
counter showed up to 36,000 im-
pulses per litre per minute.

The opinion in the U.S., as pub-
lished in the Bulletin of Atomic
Scientists, U.S. scientific journal,
was that these fall-outs of radio-
active dust had come from
Siberia as well as from Bikini.

When this statement appeared
and was widely reported in the
U.S. press, Japanese scientists
received a request from London
for their opinion. Leading nu-
clear scientists and meteorolog-
ists proceeded to carry out a
thorough investigation.

Observations of Japanese met-
eorological stations revealed that
the radioactive rain was consid-
erably heavier on the Pacific
coast of Japan than on the coast
facing the mainland of Asia:

Moreover, reports on the bomb
explosion which had caused the
radioactive rain were compared.
Meteorological stations on the is-

land southeast of Japan record-
ed the explosion at 5.15 a.m., the
stations in Osaka at 7.16 a.m.,
and those on the west coast at

7.24 a.m. It was established be-
yond doubt that the wind which

carried the radioactive clouds
came from the Pacific.
U.S. claims that the radio-

active rain had been caused by a
hydrogen bomb explosion § in
Siberia were shown to be with-
out foundation. On the bdther
hand, it was clearly proved that
on April 28 and May 14 two
hydrogen bomb explosions took
place in the Pacific under condi-
tions of secrecy.

This coincided with the report
that on May 14 several inhabit-
ants of the Marshall Islands suf-
fered severe burns from radio-

activity.
*

Describing the plight of crew
members of the Fortunate Dra-
gon, whose condition had grown
steadily worse despite all the
medical skill of their doctors,
Professor Nishiwaki said it bore
out what had already been prov-
en by cases at Hiroshima and
Nagasaki — radioactivity contin-
ues its destructive work for
years. Even now, nine years

after the explosion of the atom

bombs, new-born children whose
parents were within reach of the
atom bomb rays but who have
not themselves shown any ser-
lous symptoms of contamination,
have _Malformations. In both
cities there is also an enormous
Increase in cases of cancer.

Prompted by these experienc-
es, the Scientific Council of Ja-
pan, to which nearly all scientists
in the country belong, decided,
ion the proposal of the nuclear
Physicists, to boycott all atomic
projects which are not intended
to serve peaceful ends. This boy-
cott was joined by all Japanese
engineers, who refused to partici-
pate in the mining of uranium
ore which was to be exported for
the purposes of war preparation.

“T am not anti-American,” Pro-
fessor Nishiwaki declared. ‘“‘be-
cause I reject on principle hatred
against any nation. But the Ja-
panese people, who were the first
to experience the effects of the
atom bomb, and have now come

~to feel the long-distance effects

of the hydrogen bomb, have the
right and the obligation to warn
other peoples ‘of this frightful
weapon.”

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — FEBRUARY 18, 1955 — PAGE 9