Taking Hiroshima Day as a platform, a group of citizens from the city, observed that Andhra Pradesh was inviting a nuclear disaster, by accepting the proposal to make the State a nuclear power hub, on Saturday. “We are extremely concerned about the State government’s recent proposal to develop 30,000 mw of nuclear energy seeking to make AP the nation’s nuclear hub. We believe that there is a strong linkage between nuclear power and nuclear weapons and that civil nuclear programme does contribute to the proliferation of nuclear weapons,” said V.S. Krishna of Human Rights Forum (HRF). The group of over 50 citizens from various backgrounds participated in a silent protest by holding hand-held solar lanterns on the Beach Road, to symbolise the rejection of nuclear power and adopting clean, green and safe renewable energy such as solar, tidal and wind. At a time when all the developed countries are shutting down their nuclear power reactors and moving towards renewable sources, India is galloping towards nuclear power, which is unsafe, hazardous, expensive and highly risky, observed the participants. The Indian politicians appear to have not learnt lessons from the Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima nuclear disasters, said former bureaucrat and senior citizen C.S. Rao. Photo exhibition A photo exhibition depicting Hiroshima and Nagasaki atom bomb blasts was organised by the Bala Vikas Foundation (BVF) and the International Association for Religious Freedom at Dr. V.S. Krishna Government Degree College. Addressing the students, Principal of the college Chandrasekhar said the government should reduce the defence spending and divert the money towards other sectors such as health and education. Narava Prakash Rao of BVF said that the photo exhibition and meeting was conducted to educate the students on the horrors of war and make them move towards the path of peace. Commemorative meet A commemorative meeting of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Disaster Day will be observed at PAPA Home on Sunday. This will be followed by another meeting at St. Ann’s College for Women, Malkapuram on Monday and Japan Information and Study Centre Andhra University on Tuesday.