Our History

The Nuclear Resister History

• 1980

  A Chronicle of Hope Is Born

  Jack and Felice Cohen-Joppa launch The Newsletter of the National No-Nukes Prison Support Collective. The first issue, published in October, reports on a single action—the Plowshares Eight, who entered a General Electric plant in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania and used hammers and blood to enact the biblical call to "beat swords into plowshares."
• 1982

  Documenting a Movement Surge

  As blockades erupt at nuclear sites across the country—1,953 arrested at Diablo Canyon, 1,068 at Livermore Labs—the newsletter becomes an essential clearinghouse, connecting resisters, supporters, and the imprisoned across a rapidly growing movement.
• 1984

  Renamed The Nuclear Resister

  The publication adopts its enduring name—The Nuclear Resister: A Chronicle of Hope—reflecting its expanding role beyond prison support into comprehensive documentation of anti-nuclear civil resistance nationwide.
• 1986

  Tucson Becomes Home

  Jack and Felice relocate to Tucson, Arizona—arriving on the very same day the Chernobyl nuclear disaster strikes in the Soviet Union. Tucson will remain the home base of The Nuclear Resister for decades to come.
• 1988

  Missile Silo Actions

  The Nuclear Resister documents the Missouri Peace Planters' bold occupation of multiple Minuteman nuclear missile silos during the summer, part of a growing wave of direct action at weapons installations across the heartland.
• 1990

  Expanding the Mission

  The Nuclear Resister broadens its scope to include reporting on anti-war arrests in North America, plus overseas anti-nuclear and anti-war resistance—all with the same unwavering emphasis on prisoner support.
• 1995

  The Campaign to Free Vanunu

  Felice Cohen-Joppa coordinates the U.S. campaign to free Mordechai Vanunu, the Israeli nuclear technician turned whistleblower who gave the world its first concrete proof that Israel possessed nuclear weapons. Imprisoned since 1986, Vanunu becomes a global symbol of conscience.
• 2004

  Vanunu Released

  After 18 years in an Israeli prison, Mordechai Vanunu is finally released. Felice is present at Ashkelon Prison for the historic moment, a testament to the years-long international solidarity campaign she helped lead from the pages of The Nuclear Resister.
• 2009

  Disarm Now Plowshares

  Five activists enter the Trident nuclear submarine base in Bangor, Washington in the latest Plowshares disarmament action. The Nuclear Resister provides in-depth coverage and mobilizes prisoner support, continuing its role as the movement's essential chronicle.
• 2010

  30 Years of Resistance

  The Nuclear Resister celebrates its 30th anniversary with a "Resistance for a Nuclear Free Future" gathering July 3–5. That same year, the newsletter launches its first e-bulletin, bringing its reporting into the digital age while continuing the print edition.
• 2012

  Transform Now Plowshares

  Three activists—including an 82-year-old nun—breach the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, forcing an unprecedented three-week shutdown of the nation's primary nuclear weapons uranium processing facility. The Nuclear Resister provides comprehensive trial coverage and prisoner support.
• 2015

  Vigilant Witness in Tucson

  From their Tucson base, Jack and Felice maintain monthly vigils at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base protesting unmanned aerial vehicles and regularly demonstrate outside Raytheon Missile Systems, bearing witness against the local military-industrial presence.
• 2018

  Kings Bay Plowshares

  On April 4—the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination—seven Catholic activists enter Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay in Georgia, carrying hammers, crime scene tape, and an indictment charging the U.S. government with crimes against peace. The Nuclear Resister covers the action, trial, and sentencing extensively.
• 2020

  Nuclear Free Future Award

  The Germany-based Nuclear Free Future Foundation honors Jack and Felice Cohen-Joppa with their 2020 Education prize, recognizing 40 years of chronicling more than 100,000 anti-nuclear and anti-war arrests worldwide while encouraging support for over 1,000 jailed activists.
• 2022

  42 Years and 200 Issues

  The Nuclear Resister celebrates a remarkable milestone—42 years of continuous publication and 200 issues. A December webinar marks four-plus decades of documenting a vibrant, persistent, creative, international, inspiring, courageous, and hopeful resistance movement.
• 2024

  Stories from the Archives

  Jack Cohen-Joppa becomes a monthly featured guest on the Nuclear Hotseat podcast, sharing archival stories of anti-nuclear activism history drawn from more than four decades of Nuclear Resister reporting.
• 2025

  45 Years of a Chronicle of Hope

  The Nuclear Resister enters its 45th year of publication, continuing its mission as the essential clearinghouse for nonviolent resistance to war and the nuclear threat—still edited by Jack and Felice Cohen-Joppa, still supported by hundreds of volunteers, and still a lifeline for imprisoned activists of conscience.