Mayors of Japan's Hiroshima, Nagasaki protest U.S. plutonium tests

Mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, two Japanese cities that suffered atomic bombing in World War II, on Tuesday sent letters to U.S. President Barack Obama protesting reported U.S. plutonium tests in September and October, Kyodo News reported.

Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui said in his letter that the tests are unforgivable as they make it difficult to realize a world free from nuclear weapons as Obama proposed in 2009.

Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue in his letter urged Obama to take leadership in realizing a nuclear-free world. He also mailed a written protest to U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy, saying the tests would nullify efforts by people worldwide to eliminate nuclear weapons.

The United States reportedly conducted the two tests using plutonium to examine the capabilities of nuclear weapons.