"Tomihisa Taue was born in 1956, a decade after atomic bombs laid waste the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But the eyewitness accounts of those who survived the bombings left a deep impression on Taue and inspired him to become a crusader for a nuclear weapons-free world. Mayor of Nagasaki since 2007 and a leading figure in the Mayors for Peace movement, Taue works tirelessly to convey his city's powerful message of nuclear disarmament to the global community. He spoke to CTBTO...

"For 15 years, Susi Snyder has been actively involved as a civil society advocate on issues such as sustainable development, human rights and nuclear disarmament. Early in her career, she worked with indigenous groups opposing nuclear weapons and waste programmes at the Nevada test site. Snyder served for five years as Secretary General of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) based in Geneva before taking up her post with IKV Pax Christi in the Netherlands in...

"Tomihisa Taue was born in 1956, a decade after atomic bombs laid waste the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But the eyewitness accounts of those who survived the bombings left a deep impression on Taue and inspired him to become a crusader for a nuclear weapons-free world. Mayor of Nagasaki since 2007 and a leading figure in the Mayors for Peace movement, Taue works tirelessly to convey his city's powerful message of nuclear disarmament to the global community. He spoke to CTBTO...

"Wolfgang Hoffmann was German Ambassador to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva at the time of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) negotiations. In March 1997, he was elected the first Executive Secretary of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), a post he held until August 2005. During his tenure, Hoffmann helped lay the foundations for the fledgling international organization, guiding its path and overseeing the birth...

"Between 1983 and 1993, Paul Quilès held several senior ministerial positions in France, including Minister of Defence (1985-86), where he oversaw the country's nuclear testing programme in the Pacific. As a Member of Parliament, he was chair of the Defence Commission until 2002. He is now the Mayor of Cordes-sur-Ciel, a small historic town in Midi-Pyrenees. Today, he campaigns for the abolition of all nuclear weapons, is a signatory of the Global Zero initiative and a member of Mayors for...

Nuclear physicist Patricia Lewis has headed some of the world's most prestigious think-tanks and institutions dealing with arms-control, disarmament and international verification.From 1997-2008, Lewis was Director of the UN Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) in Geneva. Earlier in her career, she was Executive Director at the Verification Research, Training and Information Centre (VERTIC) in London. Before taking up her current post at Chatham House, Lewis spent more than three years...

"Regina Hagen, who grew up in Germany during the Cold War, became actively involved in the campaign to abolish nuclear weapons after hearing an inspirational speech by Joseph Rotblat, founder of the Pugwash movement for global nuclear disarmament and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Hagen became a coordinator of INESAP, the International Network of Engineers and Scientists Against Proliferation, which she describes as an interface between the political, scientific and activist arenas. She is now...

Siegfried Hecker, former Director of Los Alamos National Laboratory from 1986 through 1997, is a nuclear weapons expert specialising in materials science and one of the world's leading experts on plutonium science. His role was crucial for the maintenance of the U.S. nuclear arsenal without explosive testing. Hecker has visited North Korea several times at the invitation of the government and witnessed first-hand the country's nuclear programme development. In addition, since the end of the...

Joe Cirincione, whose commentaries are featured in media worldwide, has been an influential voice in nuclear arms-related issues for many years. He is a member of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's International Security Advisory Board and of the Council on Foreign Relations. As Director for Nonproliferation at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, he organized and chaired the annual Carnegie International Non-Proliferation Conferences for five years. Since 2008, Cirincione serves...