Tri-Cities, Walla Walla events mark atomic bombs using Hanford plutonium 78 years ago
The 78th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, will be observed Wednesday, Aug. 9, with events in Richland and Walla Walla.
The Fat Man bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, Aug. 9, 1945, was fueled with plutonium produced at the Hanford nuclear reservation site in Eastern Washington.
The Manhattan Project National Historical Park plans a “Lights for Peace” ceremony at 8 p.m. at the fingernail stage in Richland’s Howard Amon Park.
The ceremony is intended to acknowledge and interpret conflicting viewpoints, both historical and modern, that surround the development and use of the world’s first atomic weapons, according to the park service.
The program will include music by the Mid-Columbia Mastersingers, a guest speaker and an opportunity to ring a peace bell.
The mayor of Nagasaki gave the people of Richland a model of the “Bell of Peace,” which was recovered from the ruins near ground zero in Nagasaki and rung each day to console survivors of the atomic bombing.
The public can walk a path lit with luminarias decorated with messages of peace for a quiet, contemplative experience.
In Walla Walla a new documentary about nuclear weapons testing, “Downwind,” will be screened.
Actor Martin Sheen narrates the documentary with actor Michael Douglas and political satirist Lewis Black.
The film discusses the United State’s 928 nuclear detonations from 1951 to 1992 at the Nevada Test Site and the impacts of radioactive fallout on communities of the West and the environment.
The film’s director, Mark Shapiro, will attend to answer questions along with one of the documentary’s writers, Warren Etheredge, the director of film programming for the Gesa Power House Theatre in Walla Walla.
The film screening is at 7 p.m. Aug. 9 at the Gesa Power House Theatre, 111 N. Sixth Ave., Walla Walla. Tickets are $15 or adults and $10 for students.
The screening is in advance of the film’s world premiere the following week.
