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What Happened at Hiroshima

On the 80th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Jordan Dunbar hears from the only people who have ever experienced and survived a nuclear explosion.

It’s 80 years since the US dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, leading to the end of World War II.

The recorded death tolls are estimates, but it is thought that about 78,000 of Hiroshima’s 350,000 residents were killed instantly, and that at least 40,000 of Nagasaki’s 240,000 citizens died on impact.

Now, with conflicts being fought across the world, talk of escalation and the threat of a new nuclear arms race is becoming louder and louder.

ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ journalist Jordan Dunbar considers how we got to the events of August 1945 and what we can learn from them to stop history repeating itself.

From the postwar nuclear arms race to the Cold War and now the many high-stakes conflicts the world faces today, we have come to a point where, once again, there is very real discussion of nuclear weapons being used in conflict.

Jordan speaks to survivors - some who have only just chosen to share their stories - who see echoes of the past in what is happening today. And he hears from a family in the UK about how they have been personally affected by the legacy of Hiroshima.

Release date:

29 minutes

On TV

Mon 4 Aug 2025 20:30

Broadcast

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