Japan A-Bomb Survivors Warn of Rising Nuclear War Risk as US-Russia Treaty Ends

Survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings have voiced deep concern that the world is edging closer to nuclear war following the expiration of the last remaining US-Russia arms control agreement.

The New START treaty officially lapsed on February 5 after the United States declined to extend limits on nuclear warheads, despite a proposal from Russia for a one-year renewal. The agreement had been the final framework restraining the nuclear arsenals of the world’s two largest atomic powers.

Terumi Tanaka, co-chair of Nihon Hidankyo, the association of atomic bomb survivors, said global leaders had failed to grasp the urgency of the situation. Speaking at a press conference alongside fellow campaigners, the 93-year-old warned that humanity could be heading toward destruction.

“Given the current situation, I feel that nuclear war could become a reality in the not-too-distant future,” Tanaka said, cautioning that people in nuclear-armed countries often underestimate the danger, sometimes even viewing such weapons as symbols of national strength.

Nihon Hidankyo, a pacifist grassroots organisation, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2024 for its long-standing advocacy against nuclear weapons.

The United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, killing about 140,000 people in Hiroshima and 74,000 in Nagasaki, many due to radiation exposure. Those attacks remain the only use of nuclear weapons in warfare.

Anti-nuclear campaigners globally have warned that the treaty’s collapse could spark a new arms race and push China to expand its nuclear stockpile. While Washington has insisted that any future deal must include China, Japanese activists argue that Tokyo has done little to promote dialogue or arms control efforts in the region.

“There is virtually no effort to engage China in meaningful talks,” said Hideo Asano of the Japan Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.

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