Hiroshima, Nagasaki protest US plutonium test

The mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, two Japanese cities that suffered atomic bombing in World War II, Wednesday sent protest letters to US President Barack Obama after the United States revealed that it had conducted a plutonium bomb test between July and September, Xinhua reported citing Kyodo News.

Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui said in his letter that the test showed the "United States intends to cling to its nuclear stockpile indefinitely, and such actions are completely unacceptable".

The test has betrayed the hopes of the survivors of the bombing and millions of others who seek the elimination of nuclear weapons, Matsui said, adding that it also arouses suspicion regarding Obama's commitment to a world without nuclear weapons.

Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue also sent a letter to Obama with a similar message, the report said.

The US National Nuclear Security Administration has said on its website that a plutonium test involving a device called a 'Z machine' was conducted in the July-September period, following the one in the April-June quarter.