Oak Ridge Today

OREPA has names, remembrance ceremony at Y-12 on Wednesday

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OREPA Peace Cranes at Y-12

Sharon O’Hara-Bruce of Lake Orion, Mich., ties a peace crane to a fence set up in front of the Y-12 National Security during a ceremony last year recalling the bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, on Aug. 6, 1945, near the end of World War II.

An Oak Ridge peace organization will mark the 69th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, with a names and remembrance ceremony across from the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex on Wednesday morning.

It’s an annual ceremony for the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance that commemorates the bombing of Hiroshima near the end of World War II. Uranium for that bomb, code-named Little Boy, was enriched in Oak Ridge.

The Names and Remembrance Ceremony will be held directly across from the East Bear Creek Road entrance to Y12, starting at 6 a.m. and continuing until 9 a.m., a press release said.

“The ceremony, intended to be a solemn and non-confrontational remembrance, is an effort to join our voices to the voices of the hibakusha—the dwindling band of courageous survivors of the bombing of Hiroshima to say ‘Never again!'” the press release said. “We remember so we do not repeat.” [Read more…]

Y-12 security appears average for protest, internal changes unclear

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OREPA Skit at Y-12 Vigil

About 50 protesters listen to a skit during a Sunday night vigil at the Y-12 National Security Complex, where a moment of silence was held to remember the bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, on Aug. 6, 1945.

Security at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex appeared about average Sunday night for an annual August protest, but it wasn’t clear what internal measures had been taken one week after an unprecedented intrusion into a high-security area.

About 50 protesters attended a Sunday night vigil at the plant organized by the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance. During the annual protest, activists recall the bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, on Aug. 6, 1945, and oppose Y-12’s nuclear weapons work, calling for disarmament instead.

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Y-12, Knoxville events remember Japanese bombings, oppose UPF

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Four days of events in Oak Ridge and Knoxville this week will remember those who died in the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, in August 1945, and oppose plans to build a multi-billion-dollar uranium processing facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

Organized by the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, the ceremonies—which include a vigil, a protest, and remembrance and peace lantern ceremonies—start about one week after an unprecedented security breach at the Y-12 National Security Complex. OREPA Coordinator Ralph Hutchison has said, however, that his organization had no connection to the July 28 intrusion at Y-12 by three anti-nuclear weapons activists.

The OREPA events start at 5 p.m. today with a vigil at Y-12.

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