No First Use, Never Any Use of Nuclear Weapons

Hannes Jung / Change.org

In the war against Ukraine, which we condemn in the strongest terms, many people have been killed, many war crimes committed, and hate and fear has been created and amplified. We urge an immediate ceasefire and humanitarian aid for those who are suffering from the war.

The escalation in words and military actions has brought Europe much closer to the danger of the use of nuclear weapons. In the face of the potential for vast and hardly imaginable global destruction or a regional catastrophe with planetary consequences, we as scientists cannot stay silent: Any nuclear attack from any side will create responses and retaliations from other nuclear powers, and in a short time millions of people could be killed, huge areas of land and sea destroyed and contaminated.

The atmosphere would carry radioactive elements and soot, which could lead to nuclear winter and a global famine. Scientific studies demonstrate clearly that, once nuclear weapons are fired, there is very little time left for clear thinking and there is no way back from decisions made in haste.

While preoccupied by war in Europe and the nuclear threat, we continue to face serious and dangerous crises which need to be resolved — especially the climate crisis — with storms, floods or droughts in many countries, threatening millions. Global food, ecosystem, social and energy crises are already seriously affecting low-income countries.

Instead of engaging in wars, we need to put all our efforts and resources to resolve these issues. As scientists we are committed to research for the benefit of humanity and to press for a peaceful world in which every living being has a future.

We demand from all politicians and political leaders: 

• Stop the verbal escalation, stop making any statements and decisions that could destroy everyone’s future;
• Take scientific advice as a guideline for your decisions, and make decisions that allow a future for all of us;
• Remember the inferno of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, listen to the Hibakusha survivors, and take history and their personal testimony into account.

We demand from all governments, especially those with nuclear weapons and those in military alliances with them: 

• Urgently declare publicly that you subscribe to the no-first-use policy for nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction, and refrain from any use of these weapons;
• Join the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons launched by the United Nations.

This call is initiated by:
Science4Peace Forum, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), Naturwissenschaftler*innen Initiative „Verantwortung für Frieden und Zukunftsfähigkeit“, Ukrainian Pacifist Movement

Signatures of Nobel Laureates: 

• Prof Dr Gerardus ’t Hooft (Nobel Laureate in Physics 1999), Physicist, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
• Prof Dr Barry C. Barish (Nobel Laureate in Physics 2017), Physicist, California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Pasadena and U.C. Riverside, USA
• Prof Dr Jacques Dubochet (Nobel Laureate in Chemistry 2017), Biophysicist, University of Lausanne, Switzerland
• Prof Dr Joachim Frank (Nobel Laureate in Chemistry 2017), Biophysicist, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, NY, USA
• Prof Dr Sir Andre K. Geim (Nobel Laureate in Physics 2010), Physicist, University of Manchester, UK
• Prof Dr Takaaki Kajita (Nobel Laureate in Physics 2015), Physicist, University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Japan
• Prof Dr Michel Mayor (Nobel Laureate in Physics 2019), Physicist, University of Geneva, Switzerland
• Prof Dr Giorgio Parisi (Nobel Laureate in Physics 2021), Physicist, Rome University La Sapienza, Italy
• Prof Sir Christopher A. Pissarides (Nobel Laureate in Economics 2010), Economist, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK/Cyprus
• Prof Dr Sir Peter Ratcliffe (Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine 2019), Medicine, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and The Francis Crick Institute, London, UK
• Prof Dr Sir Richard J. Roberts (Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine 1993), Molecular biologist, New England Biolabs, MA, USA
• Prof Dr George P. Smith (Nobel Laureate in Chemistry 2018), Molecular biologist, University of Missouri, Columbia, USA
• Prof Dr Sir Fraser Stoddart (Nobel Laureate in Chemistry 2016), Chemist, Northwestern University, USA
• Prof Dr Joseph H. Taylor Jr (Nobel Laureate in Physics 1993), Physicist, Princeton University, USA

First Signatures of Scientists
(Affiliations given for identification only and do not imply endorsement by institutions)

• Malte Albrecht, Political Scientist, University of Marburg, Germany
• Prof Dr Ahmed Ali, Physicist, DESY Hamburg, Germany
• Prof Dr Roberto Antonelli, Physicist, University of Rome, La Sapienza, Italy
• Prof Dr Ugo Amaldi, Physicist, TERA foundation, CERN, Switzerland
• Prof Dr Academician Slobodan Backovic, Physicist, Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts, Montenegro
• Dr Sergey Baranov, Physicist, P.N.Lebedev Institute, Moscow, Russia
• Prof Dr Peter Barker, Historian of science, The University of Oklahoma, USA
• Prof Dr Michele Barone Physicist, NPP ‘NCSR-Demokritos’ and CERN, Greece/Switzerland
• Pol. Claus-Ivar Bolbrinker, Political Scientist, Lüchow, Germany
• Prof Dr Sonja Brentjes, Historian, Max Planck Institute — History of Science, Berlin, Germany
• Dr Domencio Campi, Engineer, CERN, MAIN international, Switzerland
• Dr Filippo Colomo, Physicist, INFN Florence, Italy
• Prof Dr Serafina Cuomo, Historian, Durham University, UK
• Antje Daum, Librarian, DESY Hamburg, Germany
• Prof Dr Klaus Desch, Physicist, University of Bonn, Germany
• Prof Dr Stefan Dittmaier, Physicist, Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg, Germany
• Dr Michael Dittmar, Physicist, ETH Zurich (retired), Switzerland
• Prof Dr Michael Dueren, Physicist, University of Giessen, Germany
• Prof Dr John Ellis, Physicist, King’s College London, UK
• Dr Dieter Engels, Astrophysicist, Hamburg, Germany
• Prof Dr Alexander Fidora, Historian, ICREA — Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
• Prof Dr Maribel Fierro, Arabic and Islamic Studies, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Madrid, Spain
• Prof Dr Jeff Forshaw, Physicist, Manchester University, UK
• Dr habil, Alexander Glazov, Physicist, DESY Hamburg, Germany
• Prof Dr Rohini Godbole, Physicist, Indian institute of Science, Bangalore, India
• Prof Dr Carlos Gonçalves, Historian, University of São Paulo, Brazil
• Prof Dr Ingrid Maria Gregor, Physicist, DESY and University of Bonn, Germany
• Dr Günter Grindhammer, Physicist, Hamburg, Germany
• Prof Dr Beate Heinemann, Physicist, DESY and Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg, Germany
• Dr habil Hannes Jung, Physicist, DESY, Hamburg University, Germany
• Prof Dr Ursula Klein, Historian, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Germany
• Prof Dr Max Klein, Physicist, Liverpool University, UK
• Prof Dr Panos Kokkas, Physicist, Ioannina University, Greece
• Dr Peter Kostka, Physicist, Liverpool University, UK
• Dr Dirk Krücker, Physicist, DESY Hamburg, Germany
• Dr Axel Lindner, Physicist, DESY Hamburg, Germany
• Dr Vladimir Lipp, Physicist, Institute of Nuclear Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland
• Dr Jenny List, Physicist, DESY/CERN, Germany/Switzerland
• Dr Carlos Lourenço, Physicist, CERN, Switzerland
• Dr Helmut Mais, Physicist, Hamburg, Germany
• Prof Dr Antoni Malet, Historian of Science, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona and Instituto d’Historia de la Ciencia, Spain
• Dr Michelangelo Mangano, Physicist, CERN, Switzerland
• Dr Isabell Melzer-Pellmann, Physicist, DESY Hamburg, Germany
• Dr Jelena Mijuskovic, Physicist, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
• Prof Dr Predrag Miranovic, Physicist, University of Montenegro, Montenegro
• Prof Dr Asa Mittman, Historian of Art, California Stat University, USA
• Prof Dr Götz Neuneck, Physicist, Council Member Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, Germany
• Prof Dr Pietro Daniel Omodeo, Historian and Philosopher of Science, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Italy
• Prof Dr Jürgen Ossenbrügge, Geographer, Hamburg University, Germany
• Prof Dr Walter Purkert, Mathematician, University of Bonn, Germany
• Prof Dr Natasa Raicevic, Physicist, University of Montenegro, Montenegro
• Prof Dr Dhruv Raina, Historian and Philosopher of Science, Jawarharlal Nehru University, India
• Prof Dr Ulrich Rebstock, Islamic Studies, University of Freiburg, Germany
• Prof Dr Francesca Rochberg, Historian, University of California Berkeley, USA
• Prof Dr Luigi Rolandi, Physicist, Scuola Normale Pisa, Italy
• Prof Dr Agustin Sabio-Vera, Physicist, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and Instituto de Física Teórica UAM/CSIC, Spain
• Prof Dr Jürgen Scheffran, Physicist, Geographer, Hamburg University, Germany
• Dr Yurii Sheliazhenko, Law, European Bureau for Conscientious Objection, Ukraine
• Prof Dr Nathan Sidoli, Historian and Philosopher of Science, School of International Liberal Studies, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
• Prof Dr Hartwig Spitzer, Physicist, Hamburg, Germany
• Prof Dr Guido Tonelli, Physicist, Pisa University, Italy
• Prof Dr Pierre van Mechelen, Physicist, Antwerp University, Belgium
• Prof Dr Ronny Vollandt, Judaic Studies, Ludwig Maximilian University Munich, Germany
• Prof Dr Perko Vukotic, Physicist, Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts, Montenegro
• Prof Dr Chirstian Zeitniz, Physicist, University of Wuppertal, Germany

Text in German, in French)