Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission
ABCC Building at a hilltop of Hijiyama, Hiroshima (circa 1954)
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| Abbreviation | ABCC |
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| Successor | Radiation Effects Research Foundation |
| Formation | November 26, 1946 |
| Founder | Lewis Weed |
| Extinction | April 1, 1975 |
The Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission (ABCC) was a commission established in 1946 in accordance with a presidential directive from Harry S. Truman to the National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council to conduct investigations of the late effects of radiation among the atomic-bomb survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As it was erected purely for scientific research and study, not as a provider of medical care and also because it was heavily supported by the United States, the ABCC was generally mistrusted by most survivors and Japanese alike. It operated for nearly thirty years before its dissolution in 1975.
The Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission (ABCC) was formed after the United States attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and August 9, 1945. The ABCC originally began as the Joint Commission The ABCC set out to obtain first-hand technical information and make a report to let people know the opportunities for a long-term study of atomic bomb casualties. In 1946, Lewis Weed, head of the National Research Council, called together a group of scientists who agreed that a "detailed and long-range study of the biological and medical effects upon the human being" was "of the utmost importance to the United States and mankind in general." President Harry S. Truman ordered the ABCC into existence on November 26, 1946. The key members in the ABCC were Lewis Weed, National Research Council physicians Austin M. Brues and Paul Henshaw, and Army representatives Melvin A. Block, and James V. Neel who was also an MD with a Ph.D. in genetics. The fifth person on the team was USNV Ltd.Jg Fredrick Ullrich of Naval Medical Research Center appointed by the National Research Council at the suggestion of the Surgeon General's Office.
The ABCC arrived in Japan on November 24, 1946, and familiarized themselves with the procedures of the Japanese military. They visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki to see what work was being done. They found that the Japanese had a well-organized medical group under the Japanese National Research Council, who were carrying out studies on both immediate and delayed atomic bomb damage in survivors. It’s almost impossible to get an exact figure of how many people were killed in the two bombings, because both cities had people who had evacuated since it was a time of war. Hiroshima expected bombings, since they were an important military supply center, so many people had left the area. There were also people from surrounding areas who would come into the city on an irregular basis to serve in work crews. Robert Holmes, who was director of the ABCC from 1954-1957, said that "[the survivors] are the most important people living"
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