Peace Prize Winner Talks Catastrophic Effects of Nuclear War

Dr. Ira Helfand, recipient of the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize, discussed the impacts of nuclear conflicts and ways to prevent nuclear escalation on Monday. The physician is also the co-president of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War and co-founder of Physicians for Social Responsibility. Many young people are “profoundly” uneducated about nuclear weapons, according to Helfand. The physician showed a video, that won first prize in the student category for the Nukebusters 2015 Short Film Contest, which demonstrated how disturbed students are when they hear about nuclear weapon capacity for damage. Helfand argued that this lack of education is dangerous because it translates to complacency among the next generation of potential anti-nuclear proliferation advocates.