How atomic bomb survivors have transformed our understanding of radiation’s impacts | Science | AAAS

How atomic bomb survivors have transformed our understanding of radiation’s impacts | Science | AAAS

The long aftermath of nuclear war

This week is the 75th anniversary of the United States’ nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, on 6 and 9 August 1945. The survivors came to be known as ‘hibakusha’, translated to ‘survivor of the atomic bombs’. Since the bombings, the Radiation Effects Research Foundation (RERF) has followed tens of thousands of hikakusha to learn about the long-term effects of radiation on their health. Safety standards around the world are now based in part on their results, and new data are still coming in. But some of the hibakusha, who have faced discrimination on top of a lifetime of health impacts, have seen little in terms of support in return.

Science | 13 min read
Read more: A Nature editorial calls on researchers to help free the world of nuclear weapons (6 min read)