Nagasaki mayor calls for end of nuclear weapons

NAGASAKI - Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue reiterated calls to abolish nuclear weapons Thursday in a speech marking the 67th anniversary of the atomic bombing of the city.

About 5,600 people attended the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Victims Memorial Peace Prayer Ceremony held at the city's Peace Park.

US Ambassador to Japan John Roos was the first ambassador from the United States to attend the Nagasaki memorial.

In the Nagasaki Peace Declaration, Taue emphasised the inhumanity of nuclear weapons and implied the central government should set new energy policies less dependent on nuclear power.

Taue also referred to the crisis at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, saying people in Nagasaki felt "great sorrow" that people in Fukushima "still face the fears of radiation" every day.

For the first time, the mayor addressed the issue of how to dispose of high-level radioactive waste from nuclear power plants, stressing the need for international efforts in resolving the problem.

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda also addressed energy policy in his speech at the ceremony, saying, "Under a basic policy of shifting away from nuclear power generation, I aim to establish an energy plan that will set the public's mind at ease for the medium and long term."

Three books listing the names of 3,305 atomic bomb survivors who died or were confirmed to have died during the past year were newly dedicated at the memorial monument.