Dear President Bush, March 1st, 2004 marks the 50th anniversary of the 1954 US “Bravo” hydrogen bomb test on Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands that unexpectedly turned out to be the largest US nuclear test ever exploded. “Bravo” brought to light the consequences of human fallibility with regards to nuclear weapons. In preparing for the test, Los Alamos scientists missed an important fusion reaction and grossly underestimated the size of the explosion. The scientists expected that the test would yield the equivalent of five million tons of TNT, but instead “Bravo” yielded 15 megatons – making the destructive force more than 1,000 times greater than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima that caused a total of some 135,000 casualties. The radioactive fallout of “Bravo” caused serious environmental damage as well as victimizing Marshall Islanders who are still waiting for compensation more than a half a century later. While the present US administration insists that it will not end the worldwide test moratorium that has been in place since 1992, increased funding in the FY 2004 for enhanced readiness of the Nevada Test Site appears to be part of a well-coordinated effort to resume production of nuclear weapons, including new and untested weapons. Resumption of US full-scale underground nuclear testing would undoubtedly lead other countries to resume testing, essentially defeating any chance for near or long-term US ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. Neither the US nor the rest of the world can afford the nuclear arms race that would be caused by resuming nuclear testing. I urge you to learn from the lesson of “Bravo” and support the current worldwide moratorium on nuclear testing. I also urge you to reject any funding in the FY 2005 budget for nuclear weapons testing and enhanced readiness of the Nevada Test Site. Sincerely,