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STORY: “The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided..."

A grassroots movement of atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday (October 11).

"...Nihon Hidankyo."

Many survivors of the only two nuclear bombs ever to be used in conflict have dedicated their lives to the struggle for a nuclear free world.

In Japan, the survivors are known as Hibakusha.

"The Hibakusha help us to describe the indescribable, to think the unthinkable, and to somehow grasp the incomprehensible pain and suffering caused by nuclear weapons."

Without naming specific countries, the chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Joergen Watne Frydnes, warned that nuclear nations should not contemplate using atomic weapons.

“We hope that both normal citizens around the world, but not least political leaders, will take the time to listen to the painful and dramatic stories of the Hibakusha, the survivors of the atomic bomb attacks in 1945 and by doing so remind ourselves that these weapons should never be used again anywhere in the world.”

Nihon Hidankyo's co-chair Toshiyuki Mimaki held back tears at a press conference in Hiroshima .

Himself a survivor of the atomic bomb attacks, Mimaki said the win would boost to its efforts to demonstrate that the abolition of nuclear weapons was possible.

In Tokyo, some were brought to tears as the evening paper announced the news.

78-year-old Okuuchi Tomoko said Japan had a duty to warn people about the impacts of nuclear warfare.

“I think there are many people who don’t fully understand what an atomic bomb is, so I think Japan should do the utmost to raise awareness about it. I hope by receiving an international award, it will help us to spread the message even more.”

The win comes a month after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that Russia could retaliate with nuclear weapons if it was struck with conventional missiles.

This month, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country would speed up steps towards becoming a military superpower with nuclear weapons...

While the widening conflict in the Middle East has prompted some experts to speculate that Iran may restart its efforts to acquire a nuclear bomb.