On August 6th London CND joined millions across the world in remembering the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in 1945. Estimates on the number killed range from 100,000 to 180,00 with 63% of the buildings in the city destroyed by the bombing. After a commemoration ceremony in Tavistock square gardens earlier the day, around 50 people attended Friends House, Euston for an evening meeting on the theme 'Hiroshima to Chernobyl: No to Nuclear’.

The event, chaired by Bruce Kent, started with a video report from Hiroshima on commemorations there, as well as clips from HBO’s hit mini-series ‘Chernobyl’. London Region chair Carol Turner spoke on the Chernobyl disaster and the impact the accident had on communities across eastern Europe.

Readings from Nobel Prize winning Svetlana Alexievich’s Voices from Chernobyl by Carol Turner and Jan Woolf, Author and founder of No Glory in War continued this theme. Author and Performer AL Kennedy also spoke on the contemporary dangers of nuclear weapons and power which prompted debate and comment from those in the audience on the subject of mobilizing against nuclear in an age of climate and political crisis.

We will be having more public meetings in the future, so please be sure to keep an eye on our events page for further details.