Sixty-three years have passed since an atomic bomb was dropped over Hiroshima. The Aug. 6, 1945, bombing, the first use of a nuclear weapon in history, killed about 140,000 people. Another atomic bombing three days later over Nagasaki killed about 70,000 people. More than 240,000 atomic bombing survivors are still living, many of them suffering from radiation-caused illnesses.
To help ensure that these abhorrent, indiscriminate weapons are never used again, it is vital that we pass on the memories of these horrific events to future generations and strive to abolish all nuclear weapons. But unfortunately, efforts to abolish such arms are making little progress.
The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty recognizes the United States, Russia, Britain, France and China as nuclear-weapons states. But outside the NPT framework, India and Pakistan have nuclear weapons and Israel is believed to have them. In October 2006, North Korea detonated a nuclear device. Suspicions also hover over Iran's uranium-enrichment program.