OSLO (Kyodo) -- Members of Nihon Hidankyo, Japan's leading group of atomic bomb survivors, received the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo on Tuesday, with the organization hoping the achievement will energize the movement for nuclear abolition as heightening geopolitical tensions have created concerns the weapons may be used again.

The group, also known as the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, was chosen for the award on Oct. 11 "for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and for demonstrating through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again," according to the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

Terumi Tanaka, the 92-year-old co-chair of the organization, delivered a speech at the ceremony on behalf of the group, reflecting on its nearly 70 years of activism for nuclear abolition and sharing his experience as a hibakusha, or atomic bomb survivor, from the U.S. bombing of Nagasaki when he was 13.

"The deaths I witnessed at the time could hardly be described as human deaths," he said. "I strongly felt that even in war, such killing and maiming must never be allowed to happen."

Tanaka referenced Russia making nuclear threats in its war against Ukraine in addition to a member of the Israeli government suggesting the use of nuclear arms in its attack on the Gaza Strip, saying, "I am infinitely saddened and angered that the 'nuclear taboo' threatens to be broken."

Among the reasons cited for the organization's win was the role of survivors in creating the international norm against the use of nuclear weapons.

"It is the heartfelt desire of the hibakusha that, rather than depending on the theory of nuclear deterrence...we must not allow the possession of a single nuclear weapon," Tanaka said of the idea that the destructive potential of nuclear weapons prevents other countries from launching an attack.

He was joined on stage by fellow representatives of the group, Toshiyuki Mimaki, 82, and Shigemitsu Tanaka, 84.

In his acceptance speech, Tanaka emphasized the need to create opportunities in each country to hear the testimonies of hibakusha in order to advance the universalization of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

"I hope that the belief that nuclear weapons cannot -- and must not -- coexist with humanity will take firm hold among citizens of the nuclear weapons states and their allies and that this will become a force for change in the nuclear policies of their governments," he said.

Among the delegation of 30 people, including 17 hibakusha who are survivors of the 1945 U.S. atomic bombings of either Hiroshima or Nagasaki, Tanaka is the oldest while the youngest is Mitsuhiro Hayashida, the 32-year-old grandson of a hibakusha. The group also included representatives of survivor groups from South Korea and Brazil.

It is the second time a Japanese person or organization has won the Nobel Peace Prize. The first was in 1974 when the award went to former Prime Minister Eisaku Sato, who introduced Japan's three non-nuclear principles of not possessing, producing or allowing nuclear weapons on its territory.

The win comes as the Nobel committee highlighted its concern that there is increasing proliferation and even acceptance that nuclear weapons could be used again in recent years.

"They could kill millions of us in an instant, injure even more, and disrupt the climate catastrophically. A nuclear war could destroy our civilization," Jorgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said in a speech.

He also called on the five nuclear weapons states that have signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to "take seriously their obligations," and urged more countries to ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

"Let us strive to keep the nuclear taboo intact," Frydnes said. "Our survival depends on it."

Nihon Hidankyo, founded in 1956, has campaigned for the abolition of nuclear weapons and the enactment of Japanese laws to provide medical and other support for survivors after the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the final days of World War II in August 1945, killing an estimated 214,000 people by the end of that year.

Hibakusha, who suffered health issues, discrimination and financial disadvantage, initially could not widely publicize their suffering due to the restrictive postwar press code. The group emerged amid a heightened antinuclear movement in Japan following a U.S. hydrogen bomb test at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands in 1954, in which a Japanese tuna fishing boat was exposed to radioactive fallout.

Hibakusha were also a key driving force behind the 2017 adoption of the U.N. Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, over which ICAN, or the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, won the Nobel Peace Prize that year.

Frydnes valorized the hibakusha as a symbol of resilience, calling them "a light in the darkest night."

"You refused to sit in terror as the great powers led us through long periods of nuclear armament," he said. "You help us describe the indescribable, to think the unthinkable, and to somehow grasp the incomprehensible pain and suffering caused by nuclear weapons."

However, many key figures died during their decades-long movement, and the national organization, which once had outlets in each of Japan's 47 prefectures, has seen 11 close due to a decline in membership and aging of its membership. The average age of hibakusha stands at over 85 as of the end of March, according to Japanese health ministry data.

The organization has been calling for Japan to join the nuclear ban treaty, which entered into force in 2021, or at least participate as an observer. But the country, which is protected by the U.S. nuclear umbrella, has refused to do so on the grounds that no nuclear state is a member.

Japan has instead supported the nuclear non-proliferation treaty involving nuclear states, including the United States.

The prize amount for 2024 was set at 11 million kroner ($990,000).