The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty is a multilateral treaty by which
states agree to ban all nuclear explosions in all environments, for
military or civilian purposes. It was adopted by the United Nations General
Assembly on 10 September 1996 but it has not entered into force due to the
non-ratification of eight specific states.
History To date, over 2,000 nuclear tests have
been carried out at different locations all over the world. Arms control
advocates had campaigned for the adoption of a treaty banning all nuclear
explosions since the early 1950s, when public concern was aroused as a result
of radioactive fall-out from atmospheric nuclear tests and the escalating arms
race. Over 50 nuclear explosions were registered between 16 July 1945, when
the first nuclear explosive test was conducted by the United States at White
Sands Missile Range near Alamogordo, New Mexico, and 31 December 1953. Prime
Minister Nehru of India voiced the heightened international concern in
1954, when he proposed the elimination of all nuclear test explosions
worldwide. However, within the context of the Cold War, skepticism about the
capability to verify compliance with a comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty
posed a major obstacle to any agreement. = Partial Test Ban Treaty =
Limited success was achieved with the signing of the Partial Test Ban Treaty
in 1963, which banned nuclear tests in the atmosphere, underwater and in space,
but not underground. Neither France nor China signed the PTBT. However, the
treaty was still ratified by the United States after an 80 to 19 vote in the
United States Senate. While the PTBT reduced atmospheric fallout, underground
nuclear testing can also vent radioactivity into the atmosphere, and
radioactivity released underground may seep into the ground water. Moreover,
the PTBT had no restraining effects on the further development of nuclear
warheads. = Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty =
A major step towards non-proliferation of nuclear weapons came with the signing
of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty in 1968. Under the NPT, non-nuclear
weapon states were prohibited from, among other things, possessing,
manufacturing or acquiring nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive
devices. All signatories, including nuclear weapon states, were committed to
the goal of total nuclear disarmament. However, India, Pakistan and Israel have
declined to sign the NPT on grounds that such a treaty is fundamentally
discriminatory as it places limitations on states that do not have nuclear
weapons while making no efforts to curb weapons development by declared nuclear
weapons states. Negotiations for the CTBT
Given the political situation prevailing in the subsequent decades, little
progress was made in nuclear disarmament until the end of the Cold War in 1991.
Parties to the PTBT held an amendment conference that year to discuss a
proposal to convert the Treaty into an instrument banning all nuclear-weapon
tests; with strong support from the UN General Assembly, negotiations for a
comprehensive test-ban treaty began in 1993.
= Adoption of the CTBT = Intensive efforts were made over the
next three years to draft the Treaty text and its two annexes. However, the
Conference on Disarmament, in which negotiations were being held, did not
succeed in reaching consensus on the adoption of the text. Under the
direction of Prime Minister John Howard and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer,
Australia then sent the text to the United Nations General Assembly in New
York, where it was submitted as a draft resolution. On 10 September 1996, the
Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty was adopted by a large majority, exceeding
two-thirds of the General Assembly's Membership.
= Obligations = (Article I):
Each State Party undertakes not to carry out any nuclear weapon test explosion or
any other nuclear explosion, and to prohibit and prevent any such nuclear
explosion at any place under its jurisdiction or control.
Each State Party undertakes, furthermore, to refrain from causing,
encouraging, or in any way participating in the carrying out of any nuclear
weapon test explosion or any other nuclear explosion.
Status The Treaty was adopted by the United
Nations General Assembly on 10 September 1996. It opened for signature in New
York on 24 September 1996, when it was signed by 71 States, including five of
the eight then nuclear-capable states. As of March 2015, 164 states have
ratified the CTBT and another 19 states have signed but not ratified it.
The treaty will enter into force 180 days after the 44 states listed in Annex
2 of the treaty have ratified it. These "Annex 2 states" are states that
participated in the CTBT’s negotiations between 1994 and 1996 and possessed
nuclear power reactors or research reactors at that time. As of 2015, eight
Annex 2 states have not ratified the treaty: China, Egypt, Iran, Israel and
the United States have signed but not ratified the Treaty; India, North Korea
and Pakistan have not signed it. Monitoring of the CTBT
Geophysical and other technologies are used to monitor for compliance with the
Treaty: forensic seismology, hydroacoustics, infrasound, and
radionuclide monitoring. The technologies are used to monitor the
underground, the waters and the atmosphere for any sign of a nuclear
explosion. Statistical theories and methods are integral to CTBT monitoring
providing confidence in verification analysis. Once the Treaty enters into
force, on site inspection will be provided for where concerns about
compliance arise. The Preparatory Commission for the
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization, an international
organization headquartered in Vienna, Austria, was created to build the
verification regime, including establishment and provisional operation
of the network of monitoring stations, the creation of an international data
centre, and development of the On Site Inspection capability.
The monitoring network consists of 337 facilities located all over the globe.
As of May 2012, more than 260 facilities have been certified. The monitoring
stations register data that is transmitted to the international data
centre in Vienna for processing and analysis. The data are sent to states
that have signed the Treaty. = Nuclear testing after CTBT adoption =
Three countries have tested nuclear weapons since the CTBT opened for
signature in 1996. India and Pakistan both carried out two sets of tests in
1998. North Korea carried out three announced tests in 2006, 2009 and 2013.
All three North Korean tests were picked up by the International Monitoring
System set up by the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization
Preparatory Commission. See also
List of weapons of mass destruction treaties
Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization
Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization Preparatory Commission
National Technical Means Nuclear proliferation
Nuclear disarmament Nuclear weapon
Nuclear warfare Nuclear-free zone
Paranuclear Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
References External links
Full text of the treaty For official news releases and
information on the treaty see – http:www.ctbto.org
Two articles from the March/April Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists cover
the state of play regarding the CTBT: Keith Hansen, "Forecasting the future"
and Trevor Findlay & Andreas Persbo, "Watching the world."
The Test Ban Test: U.S. Rejection has Scuttled the CTBT
US conducts subcritical nuclear test ABC News, 24 February 2006
International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, 1991
Daryl Kimball and Christine Kucia, Arms Control Association, 2002
General John M. Shalikashvili, Special Advisor to the President and the
Secretary of State for the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
Christopher Paine, Senior Researcher with NRDC's Nuclear Program, 1999
Obama or McCain Can Finish Journey to Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
For the number of nuclear explosions conducted in various parts of the globe
from 1954-1998 see – http:blip.tv1662914/
Introductory note by Thomas Graham, Jr., procedural history note and audiovisual
material on the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in the United Nations
Audiovisual Library of International Law Lecture by Masahiko Asada entitled
Nuclear Weapons and International Law in the Lecture Series of the United Nations
Audiovisual Library of International Law Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty:
Background and Current Developments Congressional Research Service
The Woodrow Wilson Center's Nuclear Proliferation International History
Project or NPIHP is a global network of individuals and institutions engaged in
the study of international nuclear history through archival documents, oral
history interviews and other empirical sources.