Program : Summary
 
Program>Summary: Memories from the Early Years of the Scientific Data Center for the Atomic Bomb Disaster

Shunzo Okajima, Ph. D.
Shunzo Okajima, Ph. D.
Professor, Nagasaki University
 


Memories from the Early Years of the Scientific Data Center for the Atomic Bomb Disaster

When I was appointed Director of Atomic Disease Institute in December 1970, I submitted a request to the government for the creation of an atomic bomb data center. Of my two requests, only the establishment of the atomic bomb data center materialized in 1972, and I was appointed its Director.

The newly established Scientific Data Center for the Atomic Bomb Disaster had two departments: the Biostatistics Department, and the Pathology Department. I also served as head of the Data Research Department. The Center building was completed in 1975. At the Data Research Department we were to create a database of atomic bomb victims. After deliberating over which computer we should use for the task, we concluded that IBM computers were far superior, particularly in terms of their software, so we placed a request with the then Ministry of Education for some IBM computers. However, negotiations for the introduction of IBM computers did not go smoothly, because a Cabinet decision at the time restricted computers used in government institutions to domestic-made computers.

In 1977 we at last succeeded in obtaining IBM computers for the Center. Work on the A-bomb Survivor Database commenced in 1978, and after many years and tremendous effort by colleagues at the Center, the database finally saw completion.
 
JAPANESE
Program
Video Lecture
History
Photograph Album
NAGASAKI UNIVERSITY GLOBAL COE PROGRAM Global Strategic Center for Radiation Health Risk Control