Nuclear weapons were first invented in 1945, and throughout the years they have become more advanced and developed. Countries store these weapons for emergencies and self-defense. Although this may be true many people fear who can be trusted and what will come next. This petition is requesting to ban and terminate the use of nuclear weapons, limiting the mining of uranium and plutonium for nuclear weapons, and disassembling nuclear weapons that are already made and using the material for different things.

Reasons for this change: 

1.      The use of nuclear weapons can cause contamination of the environment, lead to long-term health consequences, and release ionizing radiation that is harmful to those exposed, which will cause sickness or death. Nuclear weapons can potentially destroy a whole city, population, and natural environment for future generations.

2.      In the past many things have been done to raise awareness of this topic such as; In 1961 50,000 women marched in 60 cities to demonstrate against nuclear weapon use; In 1963 when this topic got more serious and know President John F. Kennedy came up with the Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty, which prevent the testing of nuclear weapons in the atmosphere, underwater, or in space. Five years later this treaty was signed and put into action; In 1970 the Non-Proliferation Treaty was entered into force, which helped decrease the spread of nuclear weapons and keep peace. 

3.      In World War II the United States used an atomic bomb on Japan’s cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, this led to the death of around 200,000 citizens. The nuclear weapon damaged about 43 square miles in Nagasaki and 5 square miles in Hiroshima. 

4.      The two main elements to create a nuclear bomb are uranium and plutonium. A single nuclear weapon contains about 93.5% of either one. This is very dangerous because of how deadly the elements are, and for the miners who extract the resources, by causing exposure to toxic radiation and respiratory problems. This also causes danger to the families of miners because they will be exposed to the same radiation and toxic materials which can cause illnesses or death.  

5.      As of right now (2024) there are a total of 12,119 nuclear warheads in the world, with 3,880 of them being active. Only nine countries (Russia, the United States of America, China, France, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, India, Israel, and North Korea) in the world possess nuclear weapons. The United States of America and Russia control 90% of the world's nuclear weapons. 

6.      Many people may argue that nuclear weapons are important in case of war or self-defense and that a nuclear weapon helped the United States of America end the Second World War faster and save many of our soldiers from having to go in. Although this is true, with the use of that atomic bomb we killed over 200,000 innocent civilians, damaged a large amount of the environment, put radioactive material into our atmosphere, and exposed many to toxic radiation.

Signing this petition means you are agreeing that nuclear weapons should be eliminated and banned. The mining of uranium and plutonium should be limited to help decrease the creation of nuclear weapons, and the ones already created should be disassembled. If we do nothing about this matter it will escalate and cause more problems in our lifetime and for future generations.