A World Without Nuclear Weapons From the desk of Dr. Bob Gould, President SF Bay PSR

AUGUST 2, 2025

Dear Friends,

It’s now 80 years since our Atomic Age commenced with the Trinity Test in New Mexico that soon fueled the nuclear obliteration of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, with the deaths by the end of 1945 at approximately 200,000 human beings, and with those fortunate to survive – the Hibakusha – left to suffer from the ravages of radiation-induced cancers and other dread diseases. In October, I’ll have the honor of representing us at the 24th World Congress of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) where we will commemorate these victims, and the countless others who have been imperiled by the global production and testing of nuclear weapons as well as by the toxic legacy of its companion nuclear power industry.

At our SF Bay PSR Gala last year, we had the privilege of hearing the riveting testimony of Tina Cordova, a leader of the Tularosa Basin Consortium representing the downwinders of New Mexico and other communities exposed for decades to the hazards of the nuclear era, yet denied compensation and fundamental care for their burden of disease. Though House Speaker Johnson stubbornly blocked the enactment of the Radiation Compensation Exposure Act (RECA) that had passed the Senate, RECA was just recently passed as part of the otherwise horrendous “Big Beautiful Budget Bill.”

Certainly RECA is a major victory from the years of dedicated organizing efforts by Ms. Cordova and countless other activists, but the compensation and promised health care remains limited, and for many people, this win is outweighed by the budget legislation’s slashing of Medicare, Medicaid, and other fundamental healthcare programs. An especially bittersweet outcome given the simultaneous budgetary surge in military spending including nuclear weapons “modernization” programs that will cost an estimated $4 to $6 million every hour over the next 30 years to accelerate our chances of nuclear annihilation at any moment.

So, as we squarely face our climate emergency newly challenged by EPA’s rollback of fundamental environmental and public health protections, we need to redouble our efforts against the immediate existential threat posed by the globally-revitalized nuclear weapons and power project being rolled-out simultaneously. Please join our work on this, which is centered on the growing Back from the Brink campaign, and which has recently included joining colleagues in communities speaking out forcefully at public hearings against expanding local and national Department of Energy (DOE) facility plutonium “pit” production geared at expanding the numbers and lethality of our nuclear arsenal, and providing testimony at Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) hearings in opposition to proposed relaxed radiation exposure health standards that would facilitate all aspects of the nuclear power/weapons death-cycle.

At dark times like this, I remain inspired by those who in their lives gave so much, and so selflessly to our uphill work for peace and a world free of nuclear threats of all sorts, who passed away this year but are still bound in our hearts. The work of our SF Bay PSR Nuclear Weapons Abolition Committee was graced by the participation of David Hartsough, who dedicated his entire life to non-violent struggle for peace and anti-militarism, most recently through his central role in World Beyond War. And we remain indebted to the incalculable contributions of Daniel Hirsch of Committee to Bridge the Gap, who tirelessly shared his enormous radiation health expertise at the service of numerous communities, such as our own SF Bayview Hunters Point which is still contaminated by the radioactive debris stemming from the nuclear destruction of the Marshall Islands by our military decades ago. We owe so much to David and Dan, and will strive to be emboldened by the examples they set for us.

In that spirit, we invite you to participate with us in any of the numerous 80th Anniversary activities, links below, highlights being our annual non-violent protest on August 6 at the Lawrence Livermore National Lab, and the activities centering around the Bay Area visit of the Golden Rule sailboat. Please consider joining our Nuclear Weapons Abolition Committee, and attending our GALA (Gathering for Action, Leadership, and Advocacy) on September 10. Let’s continue our collective struggle for a peaceful and thriving planet free of nuclear weapons and other manifold threats to our survival.

In peace and solidarity,

Dr. Bob Gould
President, SF Bay PSR