A court in the southwestern Japanese city of Nagasaki has dismissed a lawsuit filed by the children of atomic bomb survivors.

The survivors of the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, known as hibakusha, are eligible to receive free medical treatment, but their children, or "second-generation hibakusha," are not.

In 2017, a group of 28 second-generation hibakusha filed the suit, saying that the government's failure to provide them with the same assistance as their parents receive violates the Constitution, which stipulates that all people are equal under the law.

They argued that their parents' exposure to atomic bomb radiation had genetic effects on their own health.

The plaintiffs demanded that the government pay each of them 100,000 yen, or about 730 dollars, in compensation.

The government argued that a range of scientific studies have failed to confirm that the hibakusha's exposure to radiation has had genetic effects on their offspring.

The Nagasaki District Court handed down its ruling on Monday morning.

Presiding judge Amakawa Hiroyoshi noted that the second-generation hibakusha were not directly exposed to radiation from the atomic bombs.

He acknowledged the possibility of genetic effects, but said the government's legislative branch should decide whether they receive government assistance and how much.

He added that the government's failure to recognize them as recipients cannot be deemed to be discriminatory treatment that has no reasonable grounds and is unconstitutional.

The case was the first of its kind in Japan to focus on the genetic effects of hibakushas' exposure to radiation and whether their children should be eligible for state assistance.

A similar lawsuit has been filed in Hiroshima.