Japan A-bomb survivor groups condemn Trump nuclear test order: Isn't it ‘unworthy of Nobel Peace Prize?’

A Japanese atomic bomb survivors group that won the Nobel Peace Prize strongly condemned US President Donald Trump's order for the Defence Department to “immediately” start testing nuclear weapons. They called Trump's directive "utterly unacceptable".

Nobel laureate Nihon Hidankyo reportedly sent a letter of protest to the US embassy in Japan after Trump said on Thursday that he had ordered the Pentagon to start nuclear weapons testing to equal China and Russia.

The directive "directly contradicts the efforts by nations around the world striving for a peaceful world without nuclear weapons and is utterly unacceptable," the survivors group said in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by AFP on Friday.

Hidankyo, a grassroots movement of hibakusha, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2024, and while accepting the prize, called on countries to abolish nuclear weapons.

More than 200,000 people were killed when the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan's Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II, the only time nuclear weapons have been used during warfare.

Survivors — known as "hibakusha" — have battled decades of physical and psychological trauma, as well as the stigma that often came with being a victim.

‘Unworthy of the Nobel Peace Prize’

The Mayor of Nagasaki also condemned Trump's order, saying it "trampled on the efforts of people around the world who have been sweating blood and tears to realise a world without nuclear weapons".

"If nuclear weapons testing were to start immediately, wouldn't that make him unworthy of the Nobel Peace Prize?" Mayor Shiro Suzuki was quoted as saying on Thursday, referring to Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's intention to nominate Trump for the award.

‘Humanity becomes the loser’ when…

Two other atomic bomb survivor groups based in Hiroshima issued statements of protest, saying: “We strongly protest and firmly demand that no such experiments be conducted.”

"In a nuclear war, there are no winners or losers; all of humanity becomes the loser," said Hiroshima Congress against A-and-H Bombs (Hiroshima Gensuikin) and the Hiroshima Prefecture Federation of A-Bomb Victims Associations in a joint statement, which was also sent to the US embassy in Japan.

"The inhumane nature of nuclear weapons is evident from the devastation witnessed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki," it added.

Trump's nuclear testing order

Trump's announcement on Wednesday night from South Korea ordered the Department of Defense to "immediately" start testing nuclear weapons, something the United States has not done since 1992.

The move came after Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Moscow had successfully tested a nuclear-capable, nuclear-powered underwater drone, in defiance of Washington's warnings.

"Because of other countries' testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis," Trump wrote in a social media post.

The United States has been a signatory since 1996 to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, which bans all atomic test blasts, whether for military or civilian purposes.

It was not immediately clear if Trump was referring to testing nuclear warheads, which the United States last did in 1992, or testing weapons systems capable of carrying atomic warheads.

JD Vance backs Trump

US Vice President JD Vance said the US nuclear arsenal needed to be tested to ensure it actually "functions properly," but did not elaborate on what type of tests Trump had ordered.

The president's statement "speaks for itself," Vance told reporters at the White House.

"It's an important part of American national security to make sure that this nuclear arsenal we have actually functions properly, and that's part of a testing regime," he added.

Hiroshima bomb attack

The US dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 and then another on Nagasaki three days later. Shortly afterwards, Japan surrendered, ending World War II.

Around 140,000 people died in Hiroshima and about 74,000 others in Nagasaki, including many from the effects of radiation exposure.

Trump's announcement on nuclear testing left much unanswered – chiefly about whether he meant testing weapons systems or actually conducting test explosions, something the United States has not done since 1992.

Takaichi, Japan's first woman premier, this week announced she would nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize as she lavished the US leader with praise during his visit to Tokyo.