Japanese organization Nihon Hidankyo, a grassroots movement of atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday in a warning to countries who have nuclear weapons not to use them.
Targeted commentary
Without naming specific countries, Joergen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, warned that nuclear nations should not contemplate using nuclear weapons.
“Today’s nuclear weapons have far greater destructive power. They can kill millions and would impact the climate catastrophically,” he told a press conference. “A nuclear war could destroy our civilization.”
“It is, therefore, alarming that today, this taboo against the use of nuclear weapons is under pressure,” he said.
The Nobel Peace Prize, worth 11 million Swedish crowns, or about $1 million, is due to be presented in Oslo on Dec. 10, the anniversary of the death of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, who founded the award in his 1895 will.
